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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: pitch · hand · net · toast · firm · field · trunk · degree

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  6. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  23. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. firm — decided
  3. field — for sport
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. firm — steady
  6. toast — the most admired
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. field — a subject
  9. hand — in cards
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. net — for catching
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. degree — an amount
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. net — in sport
  16. pitch — completely
  17. net — after costs
  18. toast — a drink to someone
  19. field — farmland
  20. degree — from a university
  21. degree — temperature
  22. toast — bread
  23. firm — a company
  24. 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