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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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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: rash · pop · hand · content · pitch · tear · game · wind

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. content — the amount
  3. pitch — completely
  4. tear — to rip
  5. hand — in cards
  6. wind — moving air
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. pop — music
  9. game — a match
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. pop — soda
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. pop — to visit
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. rash — hasty
  16. hand — help
  17. tear — from crying
  18. game — wild animals
  19. wind — moving air
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. rash — a series
  22. content — happy
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. content — videos and posts

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