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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: march · tube · leaves · pitch · shower · mate · perch · chest

  1. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. Have you found your soul ________________?
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  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. leaves — to go away
  2. shower — to wash
  3. march — music
  4. mate — a friend
  5. tube — a container
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. mate — to breed
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. march — the month
  11. march — the month
  12. chest — of your body
  13. tube — the underground
  14. leaves — lets stay
  15. shower — rain
  16. leaves — of a tree
  17. chest — a box
  18. perch — the fish
  19. chest — of your body
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. mate — a partner
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. perch — for a bird
  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