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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: stock · pitch · fork · ground · kid · board · pit · row

  1. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. board — to get on
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. row — to paddle
  8. board — a flat piece
  9. pit — a hole
  10. stock — goods
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. board — a committee
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. ground — a position
  15. kid — child
  16. ground — the earth
  17. pitch — completely
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. fork — in a road
  20. pit — in a race
  21. row — a line
  22. ground — crushed
  23. kid — to tease
  24. stock — shares

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