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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 · swing · spell · bark · date · pitch · net · toast

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. spell — letters
  4. net — for catching
  5. date — the fruit
  6. net — after costs
  7. bark — to shout
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. swing — to play on
  12. toast — a drink to someone
  13. spell — a short time
  14. degree — from a university
  15. degree — temperature
  16. net — in sport
  17. spell — magic
  18. toast — the most admired
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. pitch — completely
  21. toast — bread
  22. swing — in golf
  23. swing — music
  24. bark — of a tree

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