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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: wind · race · file · pitch · mouse · game · pound · drill

  1. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. file — a tool
  3. mouse — for a computer
  4. race — the arms race
  5. wind — moving air
  6. pitch — completely
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. game — a match
  11. race — a contest
  12. wind — moving air
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. drill — the tool
  16. drill — army training
  17. game — wild animals
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. pound — a weight
  20. race — humankind
  21. file — a line of people
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. drill — a practice
  24. file — a document

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