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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: pitch · club · coach · bat · degree · kick · pound · wake

  1. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. club — for dancing
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. degree — from a university
  5. degree — an amount
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. club — for golf
  11. pound — a weight
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. degree — temperature
  14. wake — a trail
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. club — a group
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. bat — the animal
  20. kick — in football
  21. pitch — completely
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. bat — in an idiom

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