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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  2. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — for dogs
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. bass — low music
  10. race — a contest
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. lean — to bend
  13. race — the arms race
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. pitch — completely
  17. pound — a weight
  18. race — humankind
  19. lean — thin
  20. bat — the animal
  21. bass — the fish
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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