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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: pitch · land · spring · drill · cap · spell · ground · degree

  1. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. ground — crushed
  3. cap — a lid
  4. ground — the earth
  5. spring — of water
  6. spell — magic
  7. spell — letters
  8. drill — the tool
  9. degree — from a university
  10. land — ground
  11. drill — a practice
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. pitch — completely
  14. spell — a short time
  15. land — to come down
  16. land — a country
  17. cap — a hat
  18. spring — a coil
  19. degree — temperature
  20. spring — the season
  21. degree — an amount
  22. ground — a position
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. drill — army training

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