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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: chest · fall · last · fork · pitch · degree · nail · game

  1. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. degree — an amount
  5. game — wild animals
  6. fork — in a road
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. last — finally
  9. fall — to drop
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. chest — of your body
  12. chest — of your body
  13. last — to go on
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. degree — from a university
  17. fall — the season
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. fall — to drop
  20. last — final
  21. chest — a box
  22. pitch — completely
  23. degree — temperature
  24. game — a match

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