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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: kick · degree · cap · pitch · patient · hide · lean · chair

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. lean — to bend
  4. degree — from a university
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. chair — a leader
  7. pitch — completely
  8. cap — of ice
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. degree — temperature
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. cap — a lid
  17. cap — a hat
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. kick — in football
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. lean — thin
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. patient — a sick person

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