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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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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: race · racket · pitch · mark · cold · object · pound · cell

  1. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  11. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. mark — a grade
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. cold — not warm
  8. mark — a trace
  9. race — a contest
  10. object — an aim
  11. object — a thing
  12. pound — a weight
  13. cell — a phone
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. race — the arms race
  16. object — to protest
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. pitch — completely
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. cold — an illness
  22. race — humankind
  23. racket — a loud noise
  24. cell — in biology

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