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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: roll · chest · bat · hide · degree · track · pitch · season

  1. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. bat — the animal
  3. roll — a cake
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. track — a song
  9. chest — a box
  10. degree — an amount
  11. chest — of your body
  12. degree — temperature
  13. hide — animal skin
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. degree — from a university
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. pitch — completely
  19. roll — a list
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. season — of the year
  22. chest — of your body
  23. track — a path
  24. track — to keep track

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