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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 116 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: wound · game · pound · drill · saw · cabinet · pitch · shower

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. What do you think of the new ________________?
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  13. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. game — a match
  3. pitch — completely
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. drill — a practice
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. shower — rain
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. wound — an injury
  12. cabinet — a cupboard
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. game — wild animals
  15. drill — army training
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. saw — the tool
  21. drill — the tool
  22. wound — an injury
  23. saw — the tool
  24. pound — a weight

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