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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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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: cold · band · pitch · object · lie · chip · ground · nail

  1. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  11. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  12. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. The ________________ went through the wall.
  24. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. cold — an illness
  4. object — to protest
  5. ground — a position
  6. chip — for betting
  7. cold — not warm
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. pitch — completely
  10. lie — to recline
  11. object — a thing
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. band — a ring
  16. object — an aim
  17. chip — to eat
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. ground — the earth
  20. band — a music group
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. nail — on a finger

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