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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: charge · rest · pitch · bat · cold · rash · roll · degree

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. The tickets are free of ________________.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  23. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. degree — an amount
  4. rest — what's left
  5. cold — an illness
  6. charge — electricity
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. charge — in control
  9. bat — the animal
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. charge — a price
  12. rash — hasty
  13. degree — temperature
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. degree — from a university
  17. roll — a list
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. rash — a series
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. pitch — completely
  22. roll — a cake
  23. rest — a break
  24. rest — what's left

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