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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: kid · pitch · snap · can · pop · degree · plane · rule

  1. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. pop — soda
  3. pop — music
  4. kid — child
  5. rule — a law
  6. snap — to click
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. can — to be able to
  9. pop — to visit
  10. degree — temperature
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. plane — a tool
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. degree — an amount
  15. degree — from a university
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. pitch — completely
  19. kid — to tease
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. can — a tin
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. can — a tin

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