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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: object · chest · trunk · pop · hand · cell · pitch · bowl

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  9. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. pop — music
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. chest — of your body
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. object — a thing
  9. object — to protest
  10. pop — to visit
  11. hand — in cards
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. cell — in biology
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. chest — a box
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. pop — soda
  18. chest — of your body
  19. pitch — completely
  20. hand — help
  21. object — an aim
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. cell — a phone

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