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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: cell · lean · degree · face · pitch · season · kid · capital

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. cell — in biology
  3. pitch — completely
  4. lean — thin
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. capital — money
  7. kid — child
  8. lean — to bend
  9. kid — to tease
  10. capital — a city
  11. face — part of the head
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. face — to confront
  16. degree — temperature
  17. degree — an amount
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. cell — a phone
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. season — in sport
  22. face — to point toward
  23. season — of the year
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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