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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: hide · pitch · shower · roll · pound · ground · sharp · degree

  1. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. shower — rain
  4. roll — a cake
  5. shower — to wash
  6. roll — a list
  7. pitch — completely
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. sharp — clever
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. degree — temperature
  12. pound — a weight
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. degree — from a university
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. ground — the earth
  18. ground — crushed
  19. ground — a position
  20. degree — an amount
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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