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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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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: chest · drill · pit · pitch · content · mate · ruler · lie

  1. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  3. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  4. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  5. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  6. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. lie — to recline
  4. ruler — for measuring
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. ruler — a monarch
  7. pit — in a race
  8. mate — a partner
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. content — happy
  11. chest — of your body
  12. mate — a friend
  13. pitch — completely
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. chest — a box
  16. mate — to breed
  17. chest — of your body
  18. drill — the tool
  19. drill — a practice
  20. content — the amount
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. drill — army training
  24. pit — a hole

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