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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: pitch · roll · ground · mate · clip · pound · degree · bark

  1. We're on a ________________ here.
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — on a roll
  2. mate — to breed
  3. mate — a friend
  4. ground — the earth
  5. bark — to shout
  6. roll — a cake
  7. ground — crushed
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. clip — to cut
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. pitch — completely
  14. pound — a weight
  15. mate — a partner
  16. clip — for paper
  17. degree — from a university
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. degree — temperature
  20. degree — an amount
  21. roll — a list
  22. ground — a position
  23. clip — a video
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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