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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: row · degree · root · capital · chest · pitch · mug · chip

  1. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Where did you ________________ them?
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  18. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. degree — temperature
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. chip — to eat
  5. root — of a plant
  6. degree — an amount
  7. mug — to rob
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. capital — money
  11. root — of a word
  12. row — a line
  13. chest — of your body
  14. chest — a box
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. row — to paddle
  17. mug — a face
  18. mug — a cup
  19. pitch — completely
  20. chest — of your body
  21. chip — for betting
  22. degree — from a university
  23. root — the cause
  24. capital — a city

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