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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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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: bear · present · bat · chest · row · pitcher · cue · pitch

  1. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. row — to paddle
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. present — a gift
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. chest — of your body
  8. chest — of your body
  9. chest — a box
  10. cue — a hint
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. pitch — completely
  13. bat — the animal
  14. present — there
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. cue — a signal
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. bear — the animal
  21. bear — the animal
  22. cue — for pool
  23. present — the time now
  24. row — a line

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