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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: nail · spring · hide · tear · bat · snap · wake · pitch

  1. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. The ________________ went through the wall.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  14. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. tear — to rip
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. pitch — completely
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. spring — the season
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. tear — from crying
  13. hide — animal skin
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. bat — the animal
  17. snap — to click
  18. spring — a coil
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. tear — from crying
  22. nail — on a finger
  23. wake — a trail
  24. spring — of water

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