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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: rock · pitch · kid · rest · stem · chip · content · sharp

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. rest — what's left
  3. kid — to tease
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. content — the amount
  7. sharp — clever
  8. rest — a break
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. rock — a stone
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. rock — music
  13. kid — child
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. chip — for betting
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. chip — to eat
  21. stem — to come from
  22. pitch — completely
  23. rest — what's left
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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