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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. mate — to breed
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. march — music
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. rush — hurry
  9. bark — to shout
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. degree — an amount
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. degree — from a university
  14. mate — a friend
  15. march — the month
  16. march — the month
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. mine — for digging
  19. degree — temperature
  20. mate — a partner
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. pitch — completely
  24. pitcher — a jug

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