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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: pit · pitcher · chair · bowl · cell · degree · row · cold

  1. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. cell — in biology
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. row — to paddle
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. cold — not warm
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. bowl — to roll
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. pit — a hole
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. row — a line
  15. pit — in a race
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. cold — an illness
  18. bowl — a football final
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. chair — a leader
  21. degree — from a university
  22. degree — temperature
  23. degree — an amount
  24. cell — a phone

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