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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 120 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: fork · patient · pitch · chest · coach · ground · content · mouse

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. mouse — for a computer
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. ground — crushed
  9. pitch — completely
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. content — the amount
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. ground — the earth
  17. fork — in a road
  18. chest — a box
  19. ground — a position
  20. chest — of your body
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. content — happy
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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