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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: prune · ground · hand · degree · bass · pitcher · plane · net

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. net — in sport
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. hand — in cards
  5. bass — the fish
  6. ground — crushed
  7. net — after costs
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. ground — the earth
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. plane — a tool
  13. net — for catching
  14. degree — temperature
  15. prune — to trim
  16. hand — help
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. bass — low music
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. degree — an amount
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. prune — to trim
  24. ground — a position

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