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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: face · pound · wind · pitch · coach · squash · degree · leaves

  1. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. degree — from a university
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. leaves — of a tree
  5. wind — moving air
  6. wind — moving air
  7. squash — the sport
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. degree — an amount
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. face — part of the head
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. squash — to crush
  16. leaves — to go away
  17. face — to point toward
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. pitch — completely
  21. pound — a weight
  22. face — to confront
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. leaves — lets stay

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