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

  1. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. I can't ________________ this cold.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. We're on a ________________ here.
  21. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  22. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. stand — for spectators
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. stand — to bear
  8. cold — not warm
  9. tube — a container
  10. roll — a list
  11. chest — a box
  12. net — in sport
  13. chest — of your body
  14. net — after costs
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. cold — an illness
  17. tube — the underground
  18. chest — of your body
  19. pitch — completely
  20. roll — on a roll
  21. roll — a cake
  22. stand — on your feet
  23. pound — a weight
  24. net — for catching

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