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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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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: pitcher · club · spring · cold · pound · fork · pit · march

  1. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. march — music
  3. spring — a coil
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. pit — in a race
  6. club — a group
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. pit — a hole
  9. club — for dancing
  10. pound — a weight
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. cold — not warm
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. march — the month
  19. club — for golf
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. march — the month
  22. fork — in a road
  23. cold — an illness
  24. spring — the season

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