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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: pitch · deal · capital · degree · bay · cold

  1. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. My mare is ________________ in color.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  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. capital — money
  3. degree — an amount
  4. degree — from a university
  5. bay — a horse colour
  6. capital — a city
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. deal — an agreement
  9. cold — not warm
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. bay — to keep at bay
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. degree — temperature
  15. bay — a part of the sea
  16. cold — an illness
  17. deal — to handle
  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