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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: racket · bore · present · chest · spring · rash · pitch · pound

  1. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — for dogs
  2. rash — hasty
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. bore — to drill
  5. present — the time now
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. present — there
  9. bore — gave birth
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. bore — to tire
  12. rash — a series
  13. present — a gift
  14. spring — a coil
  15. pitch — completely
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. chest — a box
  18. chest — of your body
  19. pound — a weight
  20. spring — the season
  21. chest — of your body
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. racket — a loud noise
  24. spring — of water

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