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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: present · chair · race · kid · pitch · band

  1. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — completely
  2. present — there
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. kid — to tease
  6. race — a contest
  7. chair — a leader
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. present — the time now
  10. race — the arms race
  11. race — humankind
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. band — a ring
  14. kid — child
  15. band — a music group
  16. present — a gift
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. chair — to sit on

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