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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: march · trunk · key · bowl · plane · degree · pitch · content

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. The ________________ took off on time.
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. key — in music
  4. content — happy
  5. key — the most important part
  6. march — the month
  7. key — for a lock
  8. degree — temperature
  9. bowl — a football final
  10. march — the month
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. plane — an aircraft
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. pitch — completely
  15. content — the amount
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. plane — a tool
  20. degree — from a university
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. march — music
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. degree — an amount

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