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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: tube · file · cold · chest · board · pitch · scale · content

  1. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. tube — a container
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. chest — a box
  5. board — to get on
  6. file — a tool
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. file — a line of people
  9. board — a committee
  10. scale — size or range
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. chest — of your body
  13. scale — in music
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. board — a flat piece
  16. content — the amount
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. pitch — completely
  19. content — happy
  20. cold — not warm
  21. chest — of your body
  22. cold — an illness
  23. file — a document
  24. tube — the underground

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