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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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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 · net · rock · tear · pitch · pit · patient · cap

  1. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — completely
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. tear — to rip
  4. rock — a stone
  5. cold — not warm
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. cap — of ice
  9. cold — an illness
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. rock — music
  12. tear — from crying
  13. net — in sport
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. net — after costs
  16. net — for catching
  17. pit — a hole
  18. cap — a hat
  19. cap — a lid
  20. pit — in a race
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. tear — from crying
  24. cold — the Cold War

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