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

Word bank: bark · kid · pitch · net · fall · bat · can · cell

  1. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. can — a tin
  3. net — after costs
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. pitch — completely
  7. bark — to shout
  8. can — to be able to
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. fall — to drop
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. can — a tin
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. fall — the season
  17. bat — the animal
  18. kid — child
  19. cell — in biology
  20. net — in sport
  21. net — for catching
  22. fall — to drop
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. kid — to tease

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