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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: content · pass · face · stock · pitch · chair · shower · hand

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  5. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. content — happy
  3. hand — help
  4. pass — a permit
  5. pass — to succeed
  6. shower — to wash
  7. pass — to spend time
  8. pitch — completely
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. content — the amount
  13. chair — a leader
  14. face — part of the head
  15. stock — shares
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. face — to point toward
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. hand — in cards
  20. stock — goods
  21. face — to confront
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. shower — rain
  24. stock — a soup base

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