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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: leaves · chair · pitch · degree · rule · content

  1. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. content — happy
  3. degree — temperature
  4. leaves — to go away
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. chair — a leader
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. degree — an amount
  12. content — the amount
  13. pitch — completely
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. degree — from a university
  16. leaves — lets stay
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. rule — a law

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