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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: kick · chair · rule · last · pitch · chest · bat · scale

  1. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. scale — size or range
  3. scale — in music
  4. rule — a law
  5. chest — of your body
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. last — to go on
  11. pitch — completely
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. bat — the animal
  14. chair — a leader
  15. last — finally
  16. chest — of your body
  17. kick — in football
  18. chest — a box
  19. rule — government
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. last — final
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. chair — to sit on

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