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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: field · snap · hide · pitch · rash · present · chair · toast

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. snap — to click
  3. pitch — completely
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. field — a subject
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. chair — a leader
  8. toast — bread
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. present — a gift
  13. toast — the most admired
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. rash — a series
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. present — there
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. present — the time now
  22. rash — hasty
  23. toast — a drink to someone
  24. field — for sport

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