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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: bat · pitch · tube · chip · rest · scale · club · degree

  1. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. rest — what's left
  4. club — for golf
  5. bat — the animal
  6. rest — what's left
  7. degree — from a university
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. scale — in music
  10. degree — temperature
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. scale — size or range
  15. rest — a break
  16. club — a group
  17. tube — a container
  18. degree — an amount
  19. chip — to eat
  20. chip — for betting
  21. pitch — completely
  22. club — for dancing
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. scale — for weighing

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