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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: mine · season · object · pitcher · wind · drill · clip · degree

  1. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. degree — from a university
  4. degree — an amount
  5. mine — for digging
  6. degree — temperature
  7. clip — to cut
  8. season — of the year
  9. clip — for paper
  10. object — an aim
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. wind — moving air
  13. drill — army training
  14. drill — the tool
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. clip — a video
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. object — a thing
  19. wind — moving air
  20. drill — a practice
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. object — to protest
  24. season — in sport

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