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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 120 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 · bat · cabinet · hand · track · chip · shower · spring

  1. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. What do you think of the new ________________?
  17. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. pitch — completely
  3. track — to keep track
  4. chip — in a computer
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. hand — help
  8. track — a song
  9. chip — for betting
  10. hand — in cards
  11. shower — to wash
  12. spring — the season
  13. chip — to eat
  14. track — a path
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. cabinet — a cupboard
  18. spring — a coil
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. shower — rain
  21. spring — of water
  22. bat — the animal
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. bat — for baseball

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