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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: pitch · stock · date · craft · chest · cue · club · kid

  1. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  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. club — a group
  2. stock — shares
  3. cue — a signal
  4. chest — of your body
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. chest — a box
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. club — for golf
  9. cue — for pool
  10. craft — boats
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. club — for dancing
  13. craft — a skill
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. stock — goods
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. kid — to tease
  18. craft — a handicraft
  19. chest — of your body
  20. kid — child
  21. cue — a hint
  22. date — the fruit
  23. pitch — completely
  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