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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: chest · jam · pitch · season · date · file · mine · roll

  1. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  14. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. Have you settled on a ________________?
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. chest — of your body
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. jam — in traffic
  5. season — of the year
  6. roll — a cake
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. chest — of your body
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. jam — a tight spot
  14. roll — a list
  15. date — the fruit
  16. file — a tool
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. pitch — completely
  19. file — a document
  20. jam — to spread on bread
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. file — a line of people
  23. mine — for digging
  24. season — in sport

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