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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: pound · tear · fine · fan · pitch · track · cold · file

  1. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. file — a document
  3. tear — to rip
  4. fine — high quality
  5. tear — from crying
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. track — to keep track
  9. file — a tool
  10. pitch — completely
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. file — a line of people
  16. cold — not warm
  17. fine — a penalty
  18. pound — a weight
  19. cold — an illness
  20. track — a path
  21. tear — from crying
  22. track — a song
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. cold — the Cold War

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