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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: cabinet · degree · fork · pitch · kid · last

  1. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. kid — child
  6. kid — to tease
  7. fork — in a road
  8. last — finally
  9. degree — temperature
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. last — final
  13. pitch — completely
  14. degree — from a university
  15. last — to go on
  16. cabinet — a cupboard
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. degree — an amount

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