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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: saw · march · mine · chest · pitch · deal · degree · fine

  1. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  24. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — a penalty
  2. mine — for digging
  3. saw — the tool
  4. degree — an amount
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. chest — of your body
  7. deal — a big deal
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. degree — temperature
  10. fine — all right
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. chest — a box
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. degree — from a university
  16. march — music
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. march — the month
  19. march — the month
  20. chest — of your body
  21. saw — the tool
  22. pitch — completely
  23. deal — to handle
  24. fine — high quality

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