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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: pitch · current · chest · bat · stock · press · calf · net

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  3. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  19. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  20. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. calf — of the leg
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. stock — goods
  5. current — of water
  6. net — for catching
  7. stock — shares
  8. current — electric
  9. press — to push
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. net — in sport
  12. chest — of your body
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. chest — a box
  17. pitch — completely
  18. current — happening now
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. press — a publisher
  21. bat — the animal
  22. chest — of your body
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. press — newspapers

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