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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. hand — in cards
  4. season — of the year
  5. degree — from a university
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. cap — a lid
  10. race — humankind
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. cap — of ice
  13. track — to keep track
  14. degree — an amount
  15. track — a song
  16. race — the arms race
  17. track — a path
  18. race — a contest
  19. bowl — a football final
  20. season — in sport
  21. hand — help
  22. cap — a hat
  23. degree — temperature
  24. pitch — completely

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