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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. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  7. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  17. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  18. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  24. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. degree — from a university
  3. mark — a trace
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. jam — a tight spot
  7. vault — an arched ceiling
  8. clip — to cut
  9. hand — help
  10. kick — in football
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. mark — a grade
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. degree — an amount
  15. clip — for paper
  16. mark — to pay attention
  17. jam — to spread on bread
  18. vault — in gymnastics
  19. clip — a video
  20. degree — temperature
  21. pitch — completely
  22. hand — in cards
  23. vault — a safe
  24. jam — in traffic

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