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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. degree — from a university
  4. pitch — completely
  5. rest — what's left
  6. degree — temperature
  7. cold — not warm
  8. rest — what's left
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. cold — an illness
  11. root — of a plant
  12. bat — the animal
  13. rest — a break
  14. game — wild animals
  15. game — a match
  16. root — of a word
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. cue — for pool
  21. degree — an amount
  22. root — the cause
  23. cue — a hint
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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