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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: hide · racket · chip · coach · staff · cold · degree · pitch

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. degree — an amount
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. cold — an illness
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. staff — a stick
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. staff — employees
  13. chip — for betting
  14. pitch — completely
  15. staff — employees
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. chip — to eat
  20. degree — from a university
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. degree — temperature
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. pitch — a sports field

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