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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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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: net · field · pass · pound · pitch · march · nail · cold

  1. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. pass — a permit
  4. field — for sport
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. pitch — completely
  7. pass — to succeed
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. cold — not warm
  10. march — the month
  11. field — a subject
  12. field — farmland
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. pound — a weight
  16. march — music
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. net — in sport
  20. cold — an illness
  21. net — after costs
  22. net — for catching
  23. pass — to spend time
  24. march — the month

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