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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: prune · tear · dip · bat · degree · bass · pitch · pitcher

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. degree — from a university
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. degree — an amount
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. prune — to trim
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. bat — the animal
  10. dip — to sink
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. degree — temperature
  13. tear — from crying
  14. prune — to trim
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. tear — from crying
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. pitch — completely
  19. bass — the fish
  20. bass — low music
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. tear — to rip
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. pitch — a sports field

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