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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 120 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: squash · degree · saw · chair · game · pitch · shower · staff

  1. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — a stick
  2. shower — rain
  3. shower — to wash
  4. squash — the sport
  5. degree — from a university
  6. game — a match
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. staff — employees
  9. pitch — completely
  10. saw — the tool
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. saw — the tool
  13. staff — employees
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. chair — a leader
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. degree — temperature
  18. game — wild animals
  19. squash — to crush
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. degree — an amount
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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