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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: kick · foot · cold · pass · pit · degree · bat · bulb

  1. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. I've got to change the light ________________.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The light ________________ burned out.
  9. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  12. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. bulb — for light
  3. kick — in football
  4. cold — an illness
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. bulb — of a plant
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. bulb — for light
  9. foot — part of the body
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. foot — a measure
  12. foot — the bottom
  13. pit — a hole
  14. cold — not warm
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. pass — a permit
  17. degree — temperature
  18. degree — an amount
  19. pass — to spend time
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. degree — from a university
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. bat — the animal
  24. pit — in a race

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