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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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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: pitch · cold · wave · squash · tear · field · rule · bear

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. wave — of the sea
  3. rule — government
  4. cold — not warm
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. rule — a law
  7. wave — with your hand
  8. cold — an illness
  9. field — a subject
  10. tear — from crying
  11. wave — a sudden rise
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. bear — the animal
  14. squash — the sport
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. field — farmland
  18. squash — to crush
  19. bear — to put up with
  20. bear — the animal
  21. tear — to rip
  22. pitch — completely
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. tear — from crying

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