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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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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: bat · spell · pitch · sharp · chair · degree · snap · firm

  1. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — a company
  2. spell — letters
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. firm — decided
  5. pitch — completely
  6. degree — from a university
  7. sharp — clever
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. firm — steady
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. spell — a short time
  12. snap — to click
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. bat — the animal
  19. degree — an amount
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. chair — a leader
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. degree — temperature
  24. spell — magic

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