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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 120 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: degree · race · file · squash · cap · pitch

  1. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — completely
  2. file — a tool
  3. squash — to crush
  4. file — a document
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. race — humankind
  7. degree — an amount
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. degree — from a university
  10. cap — a lid
  11. race — the arms race
  12. race — a contest
  13. degree — temperature
  14. cap — a hat
  15. file — a line of people
  16. squash — the sport
  17. cap — of ice
  18. pitch — a sports field

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