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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: cold · pitch · degree · perch · bulb · lie · key · club

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  8. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  9. This piece is in a major ________________.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. I've got to change the light ________________.
  21. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. The light ________________ burned out.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. degree — from a university
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. perch — the fish
  5. club — for dancing
  6. cold — an illness
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. bulb — of a plant
  9. key — in music
  10. key — the most important part
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. degree — temperature
  13. club — a group
  14. club — for golf
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. key — for a lock
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. degree — an amount
  19. pitch — completely
  20. bulb — for light
  21. lie — to recline
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. bulb — for light

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