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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 120 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: chest · mate · squash · net · pitch · club · bark · shower

  1. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. mate — a friend
  3. squash — the sport
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. chest — of your body
  6. chest — a box
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. club — for dancing
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. mate — to breed
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. bark — to shout
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. pitch — completely
  15. squash — to crush
  16. net — in sport
  17. chest — of your body
  18. net — for catching
  19. mate — a partner
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. shower — to wash
  22. club — a group
  23. shower — rain
  24. net — after costs

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