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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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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: cabinet · file · pitch · mine · firm · drill · kid · pit

  1. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. firm — decided
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. pitch — completely
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. file — a tool
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. kid — child
  10. kid — to tease
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. mine — for digging
  13. pit — a hole
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. firm — steady
  16. drill — the tool
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. file — a document
  19. firm — a company
  20. drill — a practice
  21. drill — army training
  22. file — a line of people
  23. pit — in a race
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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