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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: drill · plane · pitch · field · bat · pound · tear · rush

  1. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. The ________________ took off on time.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. drill — the tool
  3. field — a subject
  4. plane — in geometry
  5. pitch — completely
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. tear — to rip
  8. drill — a practice
  9. tear — from crying
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. field — farmland
  12. plane — an aircraft
  13. tear — from crying
  14. pound — a weight
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. rush — hurry
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. drill — army training
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. field — for sport
  23. bat — the animal
  24. plane — a tool

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