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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 · pitch · club · patient · ground · roll · kid · racket

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. roll — a list
  4. club — for dancing
  5. roll — a cake
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. chair — a leader
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. kid — child
  11. ground — a position
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. kid — to tease
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. ground — crushed
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. ground — the earth
  19. pitch — completely
  20. club — for golf
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. club — a group

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