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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: drill · degree · mate · chest · rush · wave · pitcher · prune

  1. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — a sudden rise
  2. mate — to breed
  3. chest — of your body
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. prune — to trim
  6. degree — temperature
  7. mate — a friend
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. chest — a box
  10. mate — a partner
  11. wave — of the sea
  12. drill — army training
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. degree — an amount
  15. rush — hurry
  16. drill — a practice
  17. wave — with your hand
  18. prune — to trim
  19. drill — the tool
  20. degree — from a university
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. chest — of your body
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. prune — the fruit

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