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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: cap · degree · land · hand · pitch · fan · object · fork

  1. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. object — to protest
  3. land — a country
  4. degree — from a university
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. fork — in a road
  7. degree — an amount
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. object — an aim
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. cap — a lid
  13. cap — of ice
  14. hand — help
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. hand — in cards
  17. degree — temperature
  18. land — to come down
  19. object — a thing
  20. land — ground
  21. cap — a hat
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. pitch — completely

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