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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: club · cold · degree · branch · kick · ball · nail · pitch

  1. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. pitch — completely
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. ball — a dance
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. cold — an illness
  9. ball — a great time
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. degree — temperature
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. kick — in football
  15. degree — an amount
  16. club — a group
  17. club — for golf
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. branch — a division
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. club — for dancing
  22. cold — not warm
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. degree — from a university

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