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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: pitch · foot · bowl · straw · roll · bass · file · degree

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  9. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  23. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  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. bowl — a dish
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. roll — a cake
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. foot — a measure
  7. file — a tool
  8. roll — a list
  9. bowl — to roll
  10. file — a line of people
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. degree — temperature
  13. foot — part of the body
  14. bass — the fish
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. pitch — completely
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. bass — low music
  20. file — a document
  21. degree — an amount
  22. foot — the bottom
  23. bowl — a football final
  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