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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 · march · ground · content · race · cell

  1. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  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. cell — a phone
  2. ground — a position
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. march — the month
  5. content — the amount
  6. ground — the earth
  7. race — humankind
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. march — the month
  10. race — a contest
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. pitch — completely
  13. race — the arms race
  14. content — happy
  15. cell — in biology
  16. ground — crushed
  17. march — music
  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