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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: last · root · bay · deal · clip · degree · cue · pitch

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. My mare is ________________ in color.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  16. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. bay — a horse colour
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. cue — for pool
  5. degree — temperature
  6. cue — a hint
  7. degree — an amount
  8. last — final
  9. clip — to cut
  10. clip — a video
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. deal — to handle
  13. bay — to keep at bay
  14. root — of a word
  15. cue — a signal
  16. bay — a part of the sea
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. pitch — completely
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. last — finally
  21. root — of a plant
  22. clip — for paper
  23. root — the cause
  24. degree — from a university

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