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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: row · chest · chip · race · court · lean · pitch · temple

  1. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. When was this ________________ built?
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  16. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. chest — of your body
  5. race — the arms race
  6. chip — to eat
  7. lean — thin
  8. court — of law
  9. chest — of your body
  10. chip — for betting
  11. race — a contest
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. lean — to bend
  15. lean — to rest against
  16. temple — side of the head
  17. row — to paddle
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. chest — a box
  20. pitch — completely
  21. row — a line
  22. court — for sport
  23. court — of a king
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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