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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: trunk · pitch · race · pass · net · squash · chest · tube

  1. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  19. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  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. trunk — of a car
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. pass — a permit
  4. race — a contest
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. tube — the underground
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. net — after costs
  9. squash — to crush
  10. squash — the sport
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. pitch — completely
  15. chest — a box
  16. race — humankind
  17. net — in sport
  18. pass — to succeed
  19. pass — to spend time
  20. chest — of your body
  21. tube — a container
  22. net — for catching
  23. race — the arms race
  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