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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 116 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 train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. I can't ________________ this cold.
  8. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  17. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — on your feet
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. cold — an illness
  4. degree — temperature
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. stand — to bear
  8. pass — a permit
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. degree — an amount
  11. pass — to spend time
  12. scale — size or range
  13. cold — not warm
  14. cell — a phone
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. stand — for spectators
  17. pass — to succeed
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. sharp — clever
  20. pitch — completely
  21. degree — from a university
  22. scale — in music
  23. cell — in biology
  24. scale — for weighing

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