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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: land · pitch · squash · bore · cap · chair · racket · fall

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. cap — a hat
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. bore — to tire
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. chair — a leader
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. fall — to drop
  10. bore — to drill
  11. land — a country
  12. land — ground
  13. cap — a lid
  14. squash — to crush
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. squash — the sport
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. fall — to drop
  19. fall — the season
  20. pitch — completely
  21. cap — of ice
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. bore — gave birth
  24. land — to come down

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