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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: ground · staff · bat · degree · mine · kick · pitch · perch

  1. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  14. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. degree — from a university
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. degree — temperature
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. pitch — completely
  10. ground — a position
  11. staff — a stick
  12. ground — the earth
  13. staff — employees
  14. staff — employees
  15. kick — in football
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. degree — an amount
  21. bat — the animal
  22. ground — crushed
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. mine — for digging

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