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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: ground · cold · jam · pound · rock · tube · pitch · row

  1. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  21. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. tube — the underground
  3. pound — a weight
  4. ground — crushed
  5. jam — a tight spot
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. ground — the earth
  8. tube — a container
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. ground — a position
  11. cold — not warm
  12. cold — an illness
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. jam — in traffic
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. row — to paddle
  18. row — a line
  19. pitch — completely
  20. rock — music
  21. jam — to spread on bread
  22. rock — a stone
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. pound — to hit hard

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