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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 120 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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468
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: chest · ground · craft · shower · pitch · dip · bat · nail

  1. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — a sauce
  2. ground — crushed
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. shower — rain
  6. craft — a skill
  7. chest — of your body
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. chest — of your body
  10. ground — the earth
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. nail — on a finger
  13. shower — to wash
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. ground — a position
  18. pitch — completely
  19. bat — the animal
  20. chest — a box
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. dip — to sink
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. craft — boats

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