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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: patient · sharp · pitch · pitcher · swing · fine · lean · cold

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. lean — thin
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. pitch — completely
  5. lean — to bend
  6. sharp — clever
  7. swing — music
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. fine — all right
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. fine — high quality
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. lean — to rest against
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. swing — in golf
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. swing — to play on
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. cold — not warm
  24. fine — a penalty

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