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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: pit · straw · degree · cold · kick · mark · rush · pitch

  1. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. mark — a trace
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. mark — to pay attention
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. rush — hurry
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. pitch — completely
  12. cold — an illness
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. pit — a hole
  15. kick — in football
  16. degree — temperature
  17. pit — in a race
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. mark — a grade
  21. cold — not warm
  22. degree — an amount
  23. degree — from a university
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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