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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: race · pitch · degree · straw · kid · ball · mug · stock

  1. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. Where did you ________________ them?
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. race — humankind
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. mug — a face
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. race — the arms race
  7. kid — child
  8. stock — goods
  9. degree — from a university
  10. race — a contest
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. degree — an amount
  13. mug — a cup
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. kid — to tease
  17. pitch — completely
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. ball — a great time
  20. mug — to rob
  21. stock — shares
  22. degree — temperature
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. ball — a dance

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