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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 · pitch · drill · chest · wave · rule

  1. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — a sudden rise
  2. chest — of your body
  3. degree — from a university
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. rule — government
  6. degree — an amount
  7. degree — temperature
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. drill — a practice
  10. rule — a law
  11. chest — of your body
  12. drill — the tool
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. chest — a box
  16. pitch — completely
  17. drill — army training
  18. wave — of the sea

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