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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 · ball · stand · pitcher · spring · track · key · bat

  1. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. I can't ________________ this cold.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. track — to keep track
  7. key — the most important part
  8. spring — of water
  9. spring — a coil
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. stand — for spectators
  12. spring — the season
  13. stand — to bear
  14. track — a song
  15. track — a path
  16. key — for a lock
  17. ball — a dance
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. key — in music
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. stand — on your feet
  22. pound — a weight
  23. bat — the animal
  24. pound — for dogs

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