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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. branch — a division
  3. file — a tool
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. hand — help
  6. swing — to play on
  7. swing — in golf
  8. band — a music group
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. chair — a leader
  12. pitch — completely
  13. file — a line of people
  14. band — a ring
  15. file — a document
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. deal — a big deal
  18. swing — music
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. hand — in cards
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. deal — to handle
  24. chair — to sit on

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