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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: pitch · march · degree · shower · chest · can · stem · racket

  1. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. can — to be able to
  4. degree — temperature
  5. can — a tin
  6. stem — to come from
  7. march — the month
  8. racket — a loud noise
  9. pitch — completely
  10. shower — rain
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. march — the month
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. march — music
  17. degree — an amount
  18. chest — of your body
  19. can — a tin
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. shower — to wash
  22. degree — from a university
  23. chest — a box
  24. chest — of your body

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