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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: bat · bore · pound · hand · pitcher · pitch · roll · band

  1. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  12. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. hand — help
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. pound — a weight
  7. bat — the animal
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. roll — a list
  11. bore — to drill
  12. roll — a cake
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. bore — gave birth
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. band — a music group
  19. band — a ring
  20. hand — in cards
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. bore — to tire
  23. pitch — completely
  24. pitcher — in 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