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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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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: kid · spring · pitch · can · pound · shower · clip · temple

  1. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. When was this ________________ built?
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  22. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  23. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. kid — to tease
  4. spring — the season
  5. pitch — completely
  6. clip — a video
  7. kid — child
  8. clip — for paper
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. spring — of water
  12. can — a tin
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. pound — a weight
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. spring — a coil
  19. clip — to cut
  20. shower — to wash
  21. can — to be able to
  22. temple — side of the head
  23. can — a tin
  24. pound — for dogs

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