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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: prune · ground · hand · degree · bass · pitcher

  1. There's no middle ________________.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. bass — the fish
  5. degree — an amount
  6. ground — the earth
  7. prune — to trim
  8. hand — in cards
  9. prune — to trim
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. degree — from a university
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. degree — temperature
  15. hand — help
  16. bass — low music
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. ground — crushed

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