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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: craft · pitch · spell · pitcher · capital · drill · degree · mouse

  1. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. degree — an amount
  3. degree — from a university
  4. drill — a practice
  5. craft — a skill
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. capital — a city
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. degree — temperature
  14. spell — letters
  15. capital — money
  16. drill — the tool
  17. spell — magic
  18. pitch — completely
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. mouse — for a computer
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. spell — a short time
  24. craft — boats

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