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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.

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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: bulb · pitch · degree · plane · chair · land · face · spring

  1. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. The light ________________ burned out.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. I've got to change the light ________________.
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. plane — a tool
  3. degree — temperature
  4. degree — from a university
  5. spring — the season
  6. face — to point toward
  7. pitch — completely
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. bulb — for light
  10. spring — of water
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. chair — a leader
  13. face — part of the head
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. land — to come down
  16. spring — a coil
  17. degree — an amount
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. land — a country
  20. bulb — for light
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. land — ground
  23. face — to confront
  24. bulb — of a plant

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