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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: pound · rest · race · roll · ground · pitch · face · pitcher

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. pitch — completely
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. face — to point toward
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. rest — what's left
  7. ground — crushed
  8. pound — a weight
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. ground — the earth
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. rest — a break
  17. race — the arms race
  18. roll — a list
  19. ground — a position
  20. race — a contest
  21. roll — a cake
  22. face — part of the head
  23. rest — what's left
  24. race — humankind

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