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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: drill · pit · pitch · craft · cold · degree

  1. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. pit — a hole
  3. craft — boats
  4. cold — not warm
  5. drill — the tool
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. cold — an illness
  8. degree — from a university
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. pitch — completely
  11. pit — in a race
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. craft — a skill
  14. degree — an amount
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. drill — army training
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. drill — a practice

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