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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: dip · pitch · cell · toast · degree · chest

  1. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. degree — an amount
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. cell — in biology
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. toast — the most admired
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. dip — to sink
  10. pitch — completely
  11. toast — a drink to someone
  12. cell — a phone
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. chest — of your body
  15. degree — from a university
  16. chest — a box
  17. degree — temperature
  18. chest — of your body

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