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

Word bank: kid · pound · pitch · tear · net · dip

  1. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. 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. net — for catching
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. net — in sport
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. tear — from crying
  7. kid — child
  8. pound — a weight
  9. tear — from crying
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. tear — to rip
  12. pitch — completely
  13. kid — to tease
  14. net — after costs
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. dip — to sink
  18. 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