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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: degree · ruler · drill · cold · object · pitch

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. pitch — completely
  3. ruler — a monarch
  4. cold — not warm
  5. drill — the tool
  6. drill — army training
  7. ruler — for measuring
  8. drill — a practice
  9. ruler — for measuring
  10. degree — temperature
  11. object — an aim
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. degree — from a university
  16. object — a thing
  17. cold — an illness
  18. object — to protest

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