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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: bay · plane · field · roll · chest · foot · cue · pitch

  1. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  2. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  3. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  15. My mare is ________________ in color.
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — for pool
  2. cue — a signal
  3. cue — a hint
  4. field — farmland
  5. chest — of your body
  6. roll — a cake
  7. foot — part of the body
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. pitch — completely
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. plane — a tool
  12. bay — to keep at bay
  13. field — for sport
  14. bay — a part of the sea
  15. bay — a horse colour
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. foot — the bottom
  18. chest — of your body
  19. roll — a list
  20. chest — a box
  21. foot — a measure
  22. field — a subject
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. 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