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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: hand · spring · pitch · pound · nail · swing · kid · net

  1. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. kid — to tease
  3. spring — a coil
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. hand — help
  6. net — after costs
  7. pitch — completely
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. spring — the season
  10. swing — in golf
  11. net — in sport
  12. spring — of water
  13. pound — a weight
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. swing — to play on
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. hand — in cards
  23. kid — child
  24. swing — music

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