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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: cold · foot · spell · jam · pitch · tube · net · field

  1. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. spell — letters
  3. net — after costs
  4. jam — in traffic
  5. cold — an illness
  6. foot — part of the body
  7. spell — a short time
  8. cold — not warm
  9. net — for catching
  10. field — a subject
  11. field — for sport
  12. tube — the underground
  13. field — farmland
  14. jam — to spread on bread
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. foot — the bottom
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. jam — a tight spot
  19. tube — a container
  20. pitch — completely
  21. spell — magic
  22. foot — a measure
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. net — in sport

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com