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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: degree · charge · bat · pitcher · jam · cell · perch · rest

  1. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. The tickets are free of ________________.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  9. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. cell — a phone
  3. degree — an amount
  4. degree — from a university
  5. charge — a price
  6. rest — a break
  7. bat — the animal
  8. jam — to spread on bread
  9. charge — electricity
  10. rest — what's left
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. charge — in control
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. jam — a tight spot
  16. cell — in biology
  17. jam — in traffic
  18. degree — temperature
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. rest — what's left
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. perch — the fish

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