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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. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. pound — a weight
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. cold — an illness
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. cold — not warm
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. file — a tool
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. club — for golf
  12. hand — help
  13. club — a group
  14. hand — in cards
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. file — a document
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. kick — in football
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. club — for dancing
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. pitch — completely
  24. file — a line of people

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