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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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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: fall · coach · pitch · perch · degree · cold · pass · cap

  1. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. cap — a hat
  5. fall — the season
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. pass — a permit
  8. cap — a lid
  9. fall — to drop
  10. cold — not warm
  11. pass — to spend time
  12. degree — temperature
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. cold — an illness
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. fall — to drop
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. degree — an amount
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. pass — to succeed
  21. perch — the fish
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. pitch — completely
  24. degree — from a university

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