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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.

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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: pitch · fall · net · dip · track · hand · rock · game

  1. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. hand — help
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. dip — to sink
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. fall — to drop
  9. rock — a stone
  10. net — in sport
  11. fall — to drop
  12. track — to keep track
  13. fall — the season
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. net — for catching
  16. pitch — completely
  17. net — after costs
  18. hand — in cards
  19. rock — to move gently
  20. game — wild animals
  21. track — a path
  22. game — a match
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. track — a song

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