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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
468
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: game · pitch · firm · degree · stock · capital · chest · row

  1. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  5. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. row — to paddle
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. stock — goods
  4. firm — a company
  5. firm — decided
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. stock — shares
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. chest — of your body
  10. degree — from a university
  11. capital — a city
  12. degree — temperature
  13. pitch — completely
  14. game — wild animals
  15. game — a match
  16. capital — money
  17. row — a line
  18. degree — an amount
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. firm — steady
  22. chest — a box
  23. chest — of your body
  24. game — a kind of play

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