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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: degree · march · lie · present · pitch · chair

  1. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. degree — an amount
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. present — a gift
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. chair — a leader
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. march — music
  11. march — the month
  12. pitch — completely
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. march — the month
  15. degree — temperature
  16. degree — from a university
  17. lie — to recline
  18. present — the time now

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