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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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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: pitch · wave · cold · track · hide · stock · race · spring

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  18. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. track — a song
  3. stock — shares
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. spring — a coil
  8. stock — goods
  9. race — the arms race
  10. cold — an illness
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. spring — the season
  13. wave — of the sea
  14. spring — of water
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. race — humankind
  17. hide — animal skin
  18. wave — a sudden rise
  19. race — a contest
  20. wave — with your hand
  21. track — to keep track
  22. track — a path
  23. pitch — completely
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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