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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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. degree — an amount
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. degree — temperature
  5. cap — of ice
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. staff — employees
  9. cap — a lid
  10. wound — an injury
  11. cap — a hat
  12. chest — of your body
  13. mouse — for a computer
  14. chest — a box
  15. staff — a stick
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. wound — an injury
  18. pitch — completely
  19. chest — of your body
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. degree — from a university

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