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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: cold · degree · race · track · vault · face · can · pitch

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  16. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. face — to point toward
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. vault — an arched ceiling
  5. degree — temperature
  6. track — to keep track
  7. can — a tin
  8. cold — not warm
  9. vault — in gymnastics
  10. degree — an amount
  11. race — humankind
  12. track — a path
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. face — part of the head
  15. can — a tin
  16. vault — a safe
  17. cold — an illness
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. pitch — completely
  20. race — the arms race
  21. track — a song
  22. race — a contest
  23. can — to be able to
  24. face — to confront

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