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

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. The King held a masked ________________.
  22. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. ground — crushed
  3. deal — to handle
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. fine — high quality
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. season — of the year
  8. fine — a penalty
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. degree — temperature
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. degree — from a university
  13. mark — a trace
  14. ground — the earth
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. ball — a great time
  17. pitch — completely
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. ground — a position
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. ball — a dance
  22. fine — all right
  23. mark — a grade
  24. season — in sport

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