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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 · stem · content · land · jam · rush · chair · wound

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. land — ground
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. jam — a tight spot
  6. wound — an injury
  7. pitch — completely
  8. content — the amount
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. chair — a leader
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. land — a country
  13. jam — to spread on bread
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. content — happy
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. stem — to come from
  19. rush — hurry
  20. wound — an injury
  21. land — to come down
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. jam — in traffic

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