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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: mark · degree · roll · stick · patient · pitch · cold · scale

  1. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  7. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. degree — from a university
  4. mark — a trace
  5. cold — not warm
  6. mark — a grade
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. roll — a cake
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. degree — temperature
  11. cold — an illness
  12. stick — to attach or keep to
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. roll — a list
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. scale — size or range
  17. pitch — completely
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. mark — to pay attention
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. scale — in music
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. degree — an amount

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