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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: lean · date · land · stand · wound · pitch · band · pitcher

  1. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. I can't ________________ this cold.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. lean — to bend
  4. wound — an injury
  5. pitch — completely
  6. land — to come down
  7. lean — thin
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. band — a music group
  10. date — the fruit
  11. land — ground
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. land — a country
  14. band — a ring
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. stand — on your feet
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. wound — an injury
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. stand — to bear

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