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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: patient · content · hand · board · perch · pitcher · sharp · pitch

  1. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. pitch — completely
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. board — a committee
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. sharp — clever
  10. board — a flat piece
  11. hand — in cards
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. content — happy
  14. board — to get on
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. hand — help
  23. content — the amount
  24. sharp — exactly

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