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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: mate · clip · pound · deal · can · degree · pitch · present

  1. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. ________________ you help me carry this box?

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. mate — a partner
  3. mate — a friend
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. degree — temperature
  7. can — a tin
  8. degree — from a university
  9. pound — a weight
  10. degree — an amount
  11. can — a tin
  12. pitch — completely
  13. present — there
  14. clip — for paper
  15. present — a gift
  16. clip — a video
  17. deal — to handle
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. clip — to cut
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. deal — an agreement
  22. mate — to breed
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. can — to be able to

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