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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: degree · lean · pitcher · rest · march · tear · net · drill

  1. He is an ace ________________.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. drill — the tool
  3. degree — an amount
  4. rest — what's left
  5. tear — from crying
  6. degree — from a university
  7. degree — temperature
  8. march — the month
  9. net — for catching
  10. tear — to rip
  11. lean — to bend
  12. march — the month
  13. tear — from crying
  14. rest — a break
  15. lean — to rest against
  16. rest — what's left
  17. march — music
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. net — in sport
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. drill — a practice
  22. drill — army training
  23. lean — thin
  24. net — after costs

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