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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: pitch · chair · stem · club · chest · coach

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. chair — a leader
  6. club — for golf
  7. chest — of your body
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. chest — of your body
  10. stem — to come from
  11. club — a group
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. club — for dancing
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. pitch — completely
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. chest — a box
  18. coach — a trainer

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