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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: wound · club · nail · fork · shower · squash · cold · pitch

  1. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. The ________________ went through the wall.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. wound — an injury
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. club — for dancing
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. nail — on a finger
  8. club — a group
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. cold — not warm
  11. cold — an illness
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. fork — in a road
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. shower — to wash
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. pitch — completely
  19. squash — the sport
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. wound — an injury
  22. squash — to crush
  23. club — for golf
  24. shower — rain

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