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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: deal · mark · degree · pitcher · present · sharp · last · land

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. mark — a trace
  4. degree — temperature
  5. sharp — clever
  6. last — final
  7. degree — an amount
  8. deal — a big deal
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. present — the time now
  11. last — finally
  12. mark — to pay attention
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. last — to go on
  16. land — ground
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. mark — a grade
  20. present — there
  21. deal — to handle
  22. land — to come down
  23. present — a gift
  24. land — a country

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