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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: ball · chair · degree · hand · bowl · bass · fall · pitch

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  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. degree — an amount
  2. bass — low music
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. hand — in cards
  8. fall — to drop
  9. bass — the fish
  10. fall — the season
  11. fall — to drop
  12. ball — a great time
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. degree — from a university
  19. ball — a dance
  20. degree — temperature
  21. chair — a leader
  22. hand — help
  23. hand — part of the body
  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