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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: cabinet · face · kid · dip · pitch · date · bat · stock

  1. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. What do you think of the new ________________?
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. kid — to tease
  4. face — part of the head
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. date — the fruit
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. stock — shares
  11. face — to confront
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. stock — goods
  15. dip — to sink
  16. kid — child
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. face — to point toward
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. pitch — completely
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. bat — the animal
  24. stock — a soup base

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