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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: degree · drill · dip · ruler · march · pit

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. degree — an amount
  3. march — music
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. march — the month
  6. ruler — a monarch
  7. drill — a practice
  8. pit — a hole
  9. pit — in a race
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. dip — to sink
  12. degree — from a university
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. drill — the tool
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. drill — army training
  18. degree — temperature

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