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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: club · stem · squash · chip · pitch · net · face · wind

  1. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  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. squash — the sport
  2. squash — to crush
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. chip — to eat
  5. stem — to come from
  6. club — a group
  7. wind — moving air
  8. face — to point toward
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. club — for golf
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. face — part of the head
  14. net — in sport
  15. pitch — completely
  16. net — for catching
  17. wind — moving air
  18. chip — for betting
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. net — after costs
  23. face — to confront
  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