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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 120 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: pitcher · pit · sharp · racket · hand · cap · content · cell

  1. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. cap — a hat
  3. pit — in a race
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. hand — in cards
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. content — happy
  12. cell — a phone
  13. cap — a lid
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. sharp — clever
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. pit — a hole
  19. hand — help
  20. cell — in biology
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. cap — of ice
  23. content — the amount
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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