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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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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 · race · wind · degree · fall · rash · nail · perch

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. race — the arms race
  3. pitch — completely
  4. fall — to drop
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. degree — from a university
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. perch — the fish
  9. nail — on a finger
  10. fall — the season
  11. rash — a series
  12. wind — moving air
  13. race — a contest
  14. race — humankind
  15. degree — temperature
  16. wind — moving air
  17. rash — hasty
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. degree — an amount
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. fall — to drop

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