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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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Word bank
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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: file · pitch · kid · hide · cell · content

  1. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. pitch — completely
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. kid — child
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. file — a tool
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. file — a document
  10. cell — a phone
  11. kid — to tease
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. content — happy
  14. file — a line of people
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. cell — in biology

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