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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: pitch · cold · fork · net · content · rush · clip · chair

  1. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. pitch — completely
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. fork — in a road
  6. clip — a video
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. clip — for paper
  9. net — in sport
  10. cold — an illness
  11. rush — hurry
  12. net — after costs
  13. content — happy
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. clip — to cut
  16. chair — a leader
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. net — for catching
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. cold — not warm

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