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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 · sharp · pitch · root · fall · plane · temple · shower

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  5. When was this ________________ built?
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. fall — to drop
  4. plane — a tool
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. shower — to wash
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. shower — rain
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. root — the cause
  12. fall — the season
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. degree — from a university
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. root — of a word
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. root — of a plant
  19. sharp — clever
  20. temple — side of the head
  21. pitch — completely
  22. fall — to drop
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. degree — temperature

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