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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 116 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: clip · object · wave · cold · pitch · can · degree · pit

  1. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. cold — an illness
  3. can — to be able to
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. object — to protest
  6. pit — in a race
  7. object — an aim
  8. clip — a video
  9. degree — from a university
  10. degree — temperature
  11. can — a tin
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. object — a thing
  14. degree — an amount
  15. wave — of the sea
  16. pit — a hole
  17. cold — not warm
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. clip — to cut
  20. pitch — completely
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. wave — a sudden rise
  24. clip — for paper

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