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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: pound · ground · shower · mouse · race · wax · fall · pitch

  1. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  15. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. shower — to wash
  4. fall — to drop
  5. shower — rain
  6. pound — a weight
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. wax — to grow
  9. race — a contest
  10. fall — to drop
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. pitch — completely
  14. mouse — for a computer
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. race — the arms race
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. ground — the earth
  21. fall — the season
  22. race — humankind
  23. ground — crushed
  24. ground — a position

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