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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: pit · root · cold · chair · degree · pitch

  1. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  2. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — completely
  2. pit — in a race
  3. cold — an illness
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. degree — temperature
  6. chair — a leader
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. degree — an amount
  10. pit — a hole
  11. root — of a word
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. cold — not warm
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. root — the cause
  17. degree — from a university
  18. root — of a plant

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