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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: dip · chair · pitch · lie · land · bass · foot · kid

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  21. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. foot — part of the body
  3. kid — child
  4. lie — to recline
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. dip — to sink
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. foot — a measure
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. bass — low music
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. land — a country
  16. chair — a leader
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. land — ground
  19. bass — the fish
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. foot — the bottom
  22. pitch — completely
  23. kid — to tease
  24. land — to come down

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