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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: kick · pit · cold · face · shower · pitch · chest · net

  1. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. chest — of your body
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. shower — to wash
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. net — after costs
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. cold — not warm
  10. pit — in a race
  11. face — to point toward
  12. cold — an illness
  13. net — in sport
  14. chest — a box
  15. pit — a hole
  16. shower — rain
  17. face — part of the head
  18. face — to confront
  19. net — for catching
  20. kick — in football
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. pitch — completely
  24. chest — of your body

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