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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: shower · land · pitch · degree · rash · pound · key · wound

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. This piece is in a major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. key — the most important part
  4. key — for a lock
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. land — ground
  7. degree — temperature
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. pitch — completely
  10. land — a country
  11. wound — an injury
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. pound — a weight
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. degree — from a university
  16. shower — rain
  17. shower — to wash
  18. degree — an amount
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. rash — a series
  21. wound — an injury
  22. rash — hasty
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. key — in music

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