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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: band · march · pitch · present · kid · hide

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. present — the time now
  5. pitch — completely
  6. band — a music group
  7. kid — child
  8. band — a ring
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. present — a gift
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. kid — to tease
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. present — there
  17. march — the month
  18. march — music

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