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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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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: current · chest · bore · pitch · degree · temple · club · cold

  1. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. When was this ________________ built?
  5. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — completely
  2. chest — of your body
  3. degree — an amount
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. current — happening now
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. cold — an illness
  9. chest — of your body
  10. chest — a box
  11. cold — not warm
  12. current — electric
  13. degree — from a university
  14. bore — to drill
  15. temple — side of the head
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. club — for golf
  18. current — of water
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. bore — to tire
  21. degree — temperature
  22. club — for dancing
  23. bore — gave birth
  24. club — a group

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