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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: cold · lash · pitch · stick · foot · degree · field · key

  1. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. This piece is in a major ________________.
  5. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  19. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — part of the body
  2. cold — not warm
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. key — in music
  5. stick — to attach or keep to
  6. key — the most important part
  7. key — for a lock
  8. field — farmland
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. cold — an illness
  12. foot — a measure
  13. degree — an amount
  14. pitch — completely
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. lash — to lash out
  19. foot — the bottom
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. field — for sport
  22. degree — from a university
  23. field — a subject
  24. degree — temperature

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