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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: chest · pound · pitch · mine · roll · row · ground · hand

  1. We're on a ________________ here.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. roll — on a roll
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. ground — the earth
  5. roll — a cake
  6. hand — in cards
  7. pitch — completely
  8. chest — a box
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. ground — a position
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. pound — a weight
  14. ground — crushed
  15. mine — for digging
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. roll — a list
  18. chest — of your body
  19. row — a line
  20. row — to paddle
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. chest — of your body
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. hand — help

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