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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: date · pitch · hide · content · pit · mine · key · degree

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  20. This piece is in a major ________________.
  21. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  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. mine — belonging to me
  2. degree — an amount
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. mine — for digging
  5. key — the most important part
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. content — the amount
  10. degree — from a university
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. pit — in a race
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. content — happy
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. degree — temperature
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. date — the fruit
  19. key — for a lock
  20. key — in music
  21. pit — a hole
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. hide — to keep secret
  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