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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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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 · land · degree · bay · chest · trunk · hand · pitcher

  1. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. My mare is ________________ in color.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. land — a country
  4. row — a line
  5. bay — to keep at bay
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. chest — of your body
  8. hand — in cards
  9. degree — an amount
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. chest — of your body
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. degree — from a university
  16. land — to come down
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. bay — a horse colour
  19. hand — help
  20. chest — a box
  21. degree — temperature
  22. bay — a part of the sea
  23. row — to paddle
  24. land — ground

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