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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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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: race · degree · arm · bat · mine · press · shower · pitch

  1. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. My father caught me by the ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — completely
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. degree — temperature
  5. press — to push
  6. press — newspapers
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. degree — from a university
  13. bat — the animal
  14. shower — rain
  15. race — a contest
  16. arm — a part of something
  17. shower — to wash
  18. race — humankind
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. mine — for digging
  21. press — a publisher
  22. race — the arms race
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. degree — an amount

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