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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: pit · chest · degree · cabinet · pitch · net · club · lie

  1. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  23. What do you think of the new ________________?
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. club — for dancing
  4. chest — of your body
  5. cabinet — a cupboard
  6. pitch — completely
  7. degree — an amount
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. degree — temperature
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. net — in sport
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. club — for golf
  14. lie — to recline
  15. net — for catching
  16. pit — a hole
  17. degree — from a university
  18. club — a group
  19. pit — in a race
  20. net — after costs
  21. chest — of your body
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. chest — a box

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