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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: chair · ground · face · chest · ruler · pitch

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. ground — the earth
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. chest — of your body
  6. face — to confront
  7. chest — of your body
  8. ruler — for measuring
  9. ground — a position
  10. chest — a box
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. face — to point toward
  13. ground — crushed
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. ruler — a monarch
  16. face — part of the head
  17. ruler — for measuring
  18. pitch — completely

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