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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 · bowl · chair · pitch · file · capital · board · degree

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  21. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. file — a document
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. file — a tool
  7. pitch — completely
  8. ground — a position
  9. file — a line of people
  10. chair — a leader
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. ground — the earth
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. board — a committee
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. degree — temperature
  17. degree — from a university
  18. capital — a city
  19. ground — crushed
  20. board — to get on
  21. board — a flat piece
  22. degree — an amount
  23. capital — money
  24. bowl — a dish

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