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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: coach · pitch · cold · ground · chair · tube · pop · saw

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. saw — the tool
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. chair — a leader
  6. saw — the tool
  7. pitch — completely
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. ground — the earth
  10. cold — an illness
  11. pop — music
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. ground — crushed
  15. cold — not warm
  16. tube — the underground
  17. ground — a position
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. pop — to visit
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. pop — soda
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. tube — a container

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