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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: chair · pitch · key · kid · band · pit · stock · wound

  1. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. This piece is in a major ________________.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. key — in music
  3. stock — goods
  4. kid — to tease
  5. kid — child
  6. band — a music group
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. key — for a lock
  9. wound — an injury
  10. chair — a leader
  11. band — a ring
  12. stock — shares
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. pit — a hole
  15. pitch — completely
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. pit — in a race
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. pit — a fruit stone
  20. wound — an injury
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. key — the most important part
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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