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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: kid · cap · degree · pitch · clip · arm · cell · rush

  1. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  23. My father caught me by the ________________.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. cell — in biology
  3. cell — a phone
  4. cap — a hat
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. degree — from a university
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. degree — temperature
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. cap — of ice
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. clip — a video
  13. pitch — completely
  14. clip — for paper
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. clip — to cut
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. kid — to tease
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. degree — an amount
  21. kid — child
  22. rush — hurry
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. cap — a lid

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