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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: pitch · chair · pound · tear · land · cabinet · craft · wound

  1. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. What do you think of the new ________________?
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. tear — from crying
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. wound — an injury
  6. land — to come down
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. tear — from crying
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. craft — a handicraft
  11. pound — a weight
  12. craft — a skill
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. wound — an injury
  15. tear — to rip
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. land — ground
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. pitch — completely
  20. chair — a leader
  21. cabinet — a cupboard
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. land — a country

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