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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: march · pit · chair · content · hide · pound

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. march — the month
  4. content — happy
  5. march — music
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. chair — a leader
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. pit — a hole
  12. march — the month
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. pound — a weight
  15. pit — in a race
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. content — the amount
  18. hide — animal skin

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