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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: bore · pitch · kid · coach · branch · march · bear · game

  1. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. game — wild animals
  3. bore — to drill
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. kid — child
  6. game — a match
  7. branch — a division
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. bore — gave birth
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. march — music
  15. bear — the animal
  16. bear — the animal
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. kid — to tease
  19. march — the month
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. march — the month
  24. pitch — completely

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