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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: kid · chair · degree · scale · content · racket · pitch · root

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. degree — from a university
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. kid — to tease
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. scale — size or range
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. degree — temperature
  11. root — of a plant
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. pitch — completely
  15. content — the amount
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. scale — in music
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. root — of a word
  20. root — the cause
  21. content — happy
  22. chair — a leader
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. degree — an amount

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