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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: ground · spring · chair · pit · stock · coach · race · pitch

  1. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. spring — of water
  4. ground — the earth
  5. race — a contest
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. ground — crushed
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. stock — shares
  10. spring — a coil
  11. race — humankind
  12. ground — a position
  13. pitch — completely
  14. stock — goods
  15. pit — a hole
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. race — the arms race
  22. chair — a leader
  23. pit — in a race
  24. spring — the season

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