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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: saw · degree · date · lash · net · mine · shower · pitch

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. net — after costs
  3. saw — the tool
  4. degree — temperature
  5. degree — from a university
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. date — the fruit
  9. lash — an eyelash
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. pitch — completely
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. degree — an amount
  15. saw — the tool
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. lash — to lash out
  19. net — in sport
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. shower — to wash
  23. shower — rain
  24. net — for catching

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