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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 120 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 · game · ground · pitch · mate · fan · land · wake

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. land — ground
  3. degree — an amount
  4. mate — a friend
  5. land — to come down
  6. game — a match
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. mate — a partner
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. ground — a position
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. wake — a trail
  14. ground — the earth
  15. pitch — completely
  16. game — wild animals
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. degree — from a university
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. mate — to breed
  23. degree — temperature
  24. ground — crushed

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