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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: stick · staff · march · ground · fork · chest · rest · pitch

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. chest — of your body
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. staff — a stick
  7. ground — the earth
  8. ground — crushed
  9. chest — a box
  10. rest — a break
  11. stick — to attach or keep to
  12. rest — what's left
  13. staff — employees
  14. march — music
  15. ground — a position
  16. march — the month
  17. rest — what's left
  18. march — the month
  19. pitch — completely
  20. staff — employees
  21. chest — of your body
  22. fork — in a road
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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