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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: chip · pit · roll · pitch · file · game · object · chest

  1. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  2. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — completely
  2. chip — for betting
  3. pit — a hole
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. pit — in a race
  6. roll — a cake
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. file — a tool
  9. file — a document
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. chest — of your body
  13. object — a thing
  14. chest — a box
  15. game — a match
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. object — an aim
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. chest — of your body
  20. chip — to eat
  21. file — a line of people
  22. game — wild animals
  23. object — to protest
  24. roll — a list

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