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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 120 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: deal · mate · last · cold · degree · lie · ball · pitch

  1. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  2. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  14. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. lie — to recline
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. ball — a dance
  4. last — to go on
  5. cold — an illness
  6. cold — not warm
  7. degree — from a university
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. last — final
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. mate — a partner
  13. deal — a big deal
  14. deal — an agreement
  15. last — finally
  16. deal — to handle
  17. degree — temperature
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. degree — an amount
  20. pitch — completely
  21. ball — a great time
  22. mate — to breed
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. mate — a friend

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