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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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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: hand · wind · craft · pitch · stick · ground · pop · cap

  1. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. craft — a handicraft
  3. hand — help
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. ground — crushed
  6. pop — to visit
  7. craft — boats
  8. craft — a skill
  9. cap — a lid
  10. pitch — completely
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. pop — soda
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. pop — music
  16. hand — in cards
  17. wind — moving air
  18. wind — moving air
  19. cap — of ice
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. ground — a position
  22. cap — a hat
  23. stick — to attach or keep to
  24. ground — the earth

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