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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: cap · temple · degree · pitch · chair · cold · branch · can

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  5. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  14. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. When was this ________________ built?
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. chair — a leader
  4. can — a tin
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. degree — from a university
  8. cap — a lid
  9. degree — temperature
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. cap — a hat
  12. degree — an amount
  13. can — to be able to
  14. can — a tin
  15. cold — not warm
  16. cold — an illness
  17. branch — a division
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. temple — side of the head
  22. cap — of ice
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. pitch — completely

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