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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: hand · club · jam · pitch · lash · calf · chair · cell

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  14. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. club — for dancing
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. cell — a phone
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. club — for golf
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. calf — of the leg
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. lash — a whip stroke
  14. jam — to spread on bread
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. club — a group
  17. jam — a tight spot
  18. lash — to lash out
  19. chair — a leader
  20. pitch — completely
  21. jam — in traffic
  22. hand — in cards
  23. cell — in biology
  24. calf — a young animal

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