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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: pound · rest · board · clip · coach · tube · hand · pitch

  1. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. pound — a weight
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. rest — a break
  6. board — to get on
  7. rest — what's left
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. pitch — completely
  13. hand — help
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. clip — for paper
  17. board — a committee
  18. clip — a video
  19. rest — what's left
  20. hand — in cards
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. tube — the underground
  23. board — a flat piece
  24. clip — to cut

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