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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: key · chair · foot · tear · land · game · net · pitch

  1. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. key — for a lock
  4. chair — a leader
  5. land — ground
  6. tear — from crying
  7. land — a country
  8. foot — part of the body
  9. key — the most important part
  10. pitch — completely
  11. tear — from crying
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. land — to come down
  14. game — wild animals
  15. net — in sport
  16. foot — a measure
  17. game — a match
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. tear — to rip
  21. net — after costs
  22. key — in music
  23. foot — the bottom
  24. game — a kind of play

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