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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: stem · degree · pitcher · rock · clip · band · pitch · wake

  1. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. rock — to move gently
  3. pitch — completely
  4. wake — a trail
  5. clip — a video
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. rock — music
  8. degree — temperature
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. stem — to come from
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. degree — from a university
  13. degree — an amount
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. rock — a stone
  17. band — a ring
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. clip — for paper
  23. clip — to cut
  24. band — a music group

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