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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: row · content · present · pitcher · mouse · field · degree · pit

  1. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. row — a line
  4. present — a gift
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. field — farmland
  7. present — the time now
  8. pit — in a race
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. content — happy
  11. mouse — for a computer
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. field — for sport
  14. degree — from a university
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. field — a subject
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. present — there
  19. content — the amount
  20. pit — a hole
  21. degree — an amount
  22. row — to paddle
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. degree — temperature

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