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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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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 · pitcher · rest · file · band · chest · content · track

  1. He is an ace ________________.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. band — a ring
  3. rest — a break
  4. chest — of your body
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. chest — a box
  8. track — to keep track
  9. rest — what's left
  10. pitch — completely
  11. content — happy
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. track — a song
  14. chest — of your body
  15. file — a document
  16. rest — what's left
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. band — a music group
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. track — a path
  21. file — a line of people
  22. content — the amount
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. file — a tool

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