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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: fork · roll · pitch · chest · coach · bat · pop · last

  1. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. last — final
  4. last — to go on
  5. pop — soda
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. pitch — completely
  10. pop — to visit
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. chest — of your body
  14. bat — the animal
  15. roll — a list
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. roll — a cake
  18. fork — in a road
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. chest — a box
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. pop — music
  24. chest — of your body

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