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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: mark · ball · file · hand · scale · shower · wound · pitch

  1. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. mark — a trace
  4. hand — help
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. mark — to pay attention
  7. pitch — completely
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. file — a tool
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. shower — rain
  13. ball — a great time
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. wound — an injury
  16. file — a line of people
  17. shower — to wash
  18. mark — a grade
  19. ball — a dance
  20. scale — in music
  21. scale — size or range
  22. hand — in cards
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. file — a document

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