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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 · club · mate · race · wound · shower · charge · degree

  1. The tickets are free of ________________.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — a price
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. race — humankind
  4. pitch — completely
  5. degree — temperature
  6. degree — from a university
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. mate — to breed
  10. club — for dancing
  11. shower — to wash
  12. charge — in control
  13. wound — an injury
  14. club — a group
  15. race — the arms race
  16. shower — rain
  17. race — a contest
  18. wound — an injury
  19. mate — a partner
  20. charge — electricity
  21. degree — an amount
  22. mate — a friend
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. club — for golf

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