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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: bowl · stem · dip · pitch · rash · cold · race · season

  1. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  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. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. pitch — completely
  3. season — in sport
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. season — of the year
  6. rash — hasty
  7. dip — to sink
  8. bowl — to roll
  9. rash — a series
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. race — humankind
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. race — a contest
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. bowl — a football final
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. cold — not warm
  20. race — the arms race
  21. cold — an illness
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. pitch — a sports field

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