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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: last · drill · deal · pitch · band · scale · bat · chair

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. last — to go on
  3. chair — a leader
  4. bat — the animal
  5. last — finally
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. last — final
  9. deal — to handle
  10. drill — army training
  11. drill — the tool
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. scale — in music
  15. scale — size or range
  16. drill — a practice
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. band — a ring
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. pitch — completely
  24. band — a music group

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