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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 120 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: present · rash · vault · cold · hand · fall · pitch · pitcher

  1. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. rash — hasty
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. vault — in gymnastics
  6. present — there
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. vault — a safe
  10. present — a gift
  11. present — the time now
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. rash — a series
  14. hand — in cards
  15. hand — help
  16. fall — the season
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. fall — to drop
  19. cold — not warm
  20. vault — an arched ceiling
  21. cold — an illness
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. pitch — completely
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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