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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 116 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: cold · swing · branch · field · kick · can · kid · pitch

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. branch — of a bank
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. field — farmland
  5. cold — an illness
  6. swing — music
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. can — a tin
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. pitch — completely
  11. kick — in football
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. swing — in golf
  15. cold — not warm
  16. can — to be able to
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. can — a tin
  19. branch — a division
  20. field — a subject
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. kid — child
  23. swing — to play on
  24. field — for sport

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