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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: pit · leaves · coach · game · degree · pitcher · straw · clip

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  22. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  23. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. clip — for paper
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. pit — in a race
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. clip — a video
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. pit — a hole
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. game — a match
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. clip — to cut
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. degree — temperature
  19. degree — from a university
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. leaves — of a tree
  22. leaves — lets stay
  23. leaves — to go away
  24. game — wild animals

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