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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: chair · band · pitch · ball · plane · sharp · mate · cold

  1. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. Have you found your soul ________________?
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — completely
  2. band — a ring
  3. cold — not warm
  4. mate — to breed
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. ball — a great time
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. plane — a tool
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. sharp — clever
  12. band — a music group
  13. chair — a leader
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. mate — a friend
  18. cold — an illness
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. mate — a partner
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. ball — a dance
  24. plane — an aircraft

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