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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: cabinet · stick · bat · mine · stock · pitch · cell · content

  1. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  5. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  6. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. What do you think of the new ________________?
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  14. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. content — the amount
  4. stick — to attach or keep to
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. stock — shares
  9. pitch — completely
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. content — happy
  13. cabinet — a cupboard
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. stock — goods
  16. bat — the animal
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. mine — for digging
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. cell — in biology
  24. cell — a phone

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