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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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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: row · mouse · cabinet · wake · kid · degree · pitch · net

  1. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  12. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  16. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. kid — child
  6. net — after costs
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. row — a line
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. degree — an amount
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. net — for catching
  14. row — to paddle
  15. cabinet — a cupboard
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. pitch — completely
  18. wake — a trail
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. kid — to tease
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. net — in sport
  23. mouse — for a computer
  24. degree — from a university

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