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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: pitch · chest · can · kick · row · ground · wake · content

  1. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. chest — of your body
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. pitch — completely
  7. can — a tin
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. row — a line
  10. can — a tin
  11. content — happy
  12. chest — of your body
  13. chest — a box
  14. can — to be able to
  15. ground — a position
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. ground — crushed
  18. kick — in football
  19. ground — the earth
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. wake — a trail
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. row — to paddle

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