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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: pitch · kid · craft · hand · fork · field · shower · perch

  1. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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. shower — rain
  4. field — farmland
  5. perch — the fish
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. kid — to tease
  9. pitch — completely
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. kid — child
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. hand — help
  15. hand — in cards
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. shower — to wash
  18. field — for sport
  19. craft — boats
  20. fork — in a road
  21. field — a subject
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. craft — a skill
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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