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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: pitcher · object · drill · can · last · mouse · degree · clip

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  7. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  8. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  15. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  23. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. last — final
  4. degree — from a university
  5. clip — a video
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. object — an aim
  8. can — a tin
  9. clip — to cut
  10. drill — the tool
  11. can — a tin
  12. last — to go on
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. object — a thing
  15. mouse — for a computer
  16. last — finally
  17. drill — a practice
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. degree — temperature
  20. drill — army training
  21. clip — for paper
  22. object — to protest
  23. can — to be able to
  24. pitcher — a jug

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