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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 120 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: mate · pitcher · chair · march · firm · game · ball · band

  1. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — steady
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. mate — to breed
  4. chair — a leader
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. mate — a partner
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. game — wild animals
  9. firm — decided
  10. march — the month
  11. band — a ring
  12. game — a match
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. ball — a dance
  16. firm — a company
  17. ball — a great time
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. march — the month
  20. march — music
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. band — a music group
  23. mate — a friend
  24. chair — a professorship

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