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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: firm · field · kid · chair · object · cold · pitch · bank

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  21. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  22. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  23. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  24. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. cold — not warm
  3. firm — a company
  4. field — a subject
  5. field — farmland
  6. kid — child
  7. object — an aim
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. pitch — completely
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. field — for sport
  13. chair — a leader
  14. object — a thing
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. kid — to tease
  17. cold — an illness
  18. firm — decided
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. bank — of a river
  21. bank — for money
  22. firm — steady
  23. object — to protest
  24. bank — for money

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