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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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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: craft · hand · roll · pitch · bat · pound · stock · ground

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. We're on a ________________ here.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  21. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  22. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. roll — on a roll
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. craft — a skill
  5. stock — shares
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. pitch — completely
  8. craft — boats
  9. ground — a position
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. ground — crushed
  12. stock — goods
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. pound — a weight
  17. ground — the earth
  18. hand — in cards
  19. hand — help
  20. roll — a cake
  21. roll — a list
  22. craft — a handicraft
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. bat — for baseball

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