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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 120 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: hand · craft · club · content · stand · cell · pitch · face

  1. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. I can't ________________ this cold.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  21. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — completely
  2. hand — help
  3. craft — boats
  4. content — happy
  5. craft — a handicraft
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. club — for golf
  11. club — for dancing
  12. cell — in biology
  13. content — the amount
  14. face — to point toward
  15. cell — a phone
  16. stand — to bear
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. face — to confront
  19. hand — in cards
  20. craft — a skill
  21. stand — on your feet
  22. face — part of the head
  23. club — a group
  24. stand — for spectators

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