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

Word bank: swing · land · cell · charge · pitch · chest

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. The tickets are free of ________________.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. swing — to play on
  3. charge — electricity
  4. land — ground
  5. chest — a box
  6. land — a country
  7. charge — a price
  8. pitch — completely
  9. cell — a phone
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. chest — of your body
  12. swing — music
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. charge — in control
  15. swing — in golf
  16. cell — in biology
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. land — to come down

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