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

Word bank: pit · pitcher · chair · bowl · cell · degree

  1. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — in a race
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. degree — from a university
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. pit — a hole
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. cell — a phone
  12. chair — a leader
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. degree — temperature
  16. degree — an amount
  17. cell — in biology
  18. bowl — a football final

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