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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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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: chest · pitcher · deal · sharp · degree · saw · bat · land

  1. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. land — ground
  3. saw — the tool
  4. sharp — clever
  5. land — to come down
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. bat — the animal
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. degree — an amount
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. deal — a big deal
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. saw — the tool
  18. chest — of your body
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. deal — to handle
  21. chest — a box
  22. land — a country
  23. degree — from a university
  24. chest — of your body

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