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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: pitch · clip · content · nail · chair · perch · club · ground

  1. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. content — happy
  4. ground — a position
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. ground — crushed
  8. clip — for paper
  9. content — the amount
  10. chair — a leader
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. club — a group
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. clip — a video
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. perch — the fish
  20. clip — to cut
  21. club — for golf
  22. ground — the earth
  23. pitch — completely
  24. club — for dancing

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