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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  8. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  12. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. Have you found your soul ________________?
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. mate — to breed
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. can — to be able to
  5. degree — from a university
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. can — a tin
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. pitch — completely
  11. can — a tin
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. swing — music
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. mate — a friend
  16. stick — to attach or keep to
  17. degree — temperature
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. swing — in golf
  20. game — a match
  21. game — wild animals
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. mate — a partner
  24. swing — to play on

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