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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: staff · fork · degree · content · safe · pitch · hand · pitcher

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  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. content — happy
  2. staff — employees
  3. hand — help
  4. safe — out of danger
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. degree — from a university
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. hand — in cards
  11. content — the amount
  12. staff — employees
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. safe — out of danger
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. staff — a stick
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. safe — a strongbox
  20. degree — an amount
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. fork — in a road
  23. pitch — completely
  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