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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: pitch · ball · pitcher · tear · tube · present · band · pop

  1. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. tear — to rip
  3. tube — a container
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. pop — to visit
  7. present — there
  8. ball — a dance
  9. band — a music group
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. ball — a great time
  12. tear — from crying
  13. tube — the underground
  14. tear — from crying
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. present — a gift
  17. band — a ring
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. pop — music
  21. pitch — completely
  22. present — the time now
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. tube — in a tire

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