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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: mate · coach · cold · rock · degree · game · lean · pitch

  1. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  8. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. degree — temperature
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. degree — an amount
  5. cold — an illness
  6. lean — thin
  7. rock — a stone
  8. rock — music
  9. degree — from a university
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. rock — to move gently
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. game — a match
  16. lean — to bend
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. game — wild animals
  20. mate — a partner
  21. pitch — completely
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. cold — not warm
  24. mate — to breed

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