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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · hand · cue · band · chest · net · bat · foot

  1. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  18. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. foot — a measure
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. net — after costs
  6. foot — part of the body
  7. pitch — completely
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. net — for catching
  10. cue — a hint
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. cue — for pool
  13. net — in sport
  14. band — a ring
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. chest — of your body
  17. foot — the bottom
  18. cue — a signal
  19. hand — in cards
  20. hand — help
  21. bat — the animal
  22. band — a music group
  23. chest — a box
  24. chest — of your body

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