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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: bass · pound · squash · shower · pitch · march · kid · row

  1. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. bass — the fish
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. row — a line
  5. squash — to crush
  6. march — the month
  7. pound — a weight
  8. row — to paddle
  9. bass — low music
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. march — the month
  14. shower — rain
  15. pitch — completely
  16. kid — to tease
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. kid — child
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. march — music
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. shower — to wash
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. row — a quarrel

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