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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: club · band · pitch · spring · pound · present · degree · net

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. spring — a coil
  3. club — a group
  4. degree — temperature
  5. net — for catching
  6. band — a music group
  7. present — there
  8. net — after costs
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. pound — a weight
  11. club — for golf
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. spring — of water
  15. degree — an amount
  16. band — a ring
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. spring — the season
  19. present — the time now
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. club — for dancing
  22. pitch — completely
  23. net — in sport
  24. present — a gift

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