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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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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: object · degree · ground · rest · hide · straw · chest · pitch

  1. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?

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

Answer key

  1. object — an aim
  2. pitch — completely
  3. degree — an amount
  4. rest — what's left
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. degree — temperature
  9. chest — of your body
  10. chest — a box
  11. object — a thing
  12. chest — of your body
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. degree — from a university
  16. ground — a position
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. ground — crushed
  19. rest — what's left
  20. rest — a break
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. object — to protest
  23. ground — the earth
  24. hide — to keep secret

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