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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: hand · mine · sharp · pitch · mate · stand · saw · chair

  1. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  16. I can't ________________ this cold.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. pitch — completely
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. saw — the tool
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. mate — a partner
  12. stand — for spectators
  13. hand — help
  14. hand — in cards
  15. stand — on your feet
  16. stand — to bear
  17. mine — for digging
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. mate — to breed
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. saw — the tool
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. sharp — clever
  24. chair — a leader

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