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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 · present · kid · mate · chest · tear

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. present — there
  3. kid — to tease
  4. tear — from crying
  5. chest — of your body
  6. chest — of your body
  7. tear — from crying
  8. mate — a friend
  9. present — a gift
  10. mate — a partner
  11. pitch — completely
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. present — the time now
  14. chest — a box
  15. tear — to rip
  16. mate — to breed
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. pitch — a sports field

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