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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 116 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: key · land · hand · bowl · clip · degree · row · pitch

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. This piece is in a major ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. key — for a lock
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. hand — help
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. degree — temperature
  7. hand — in cards
  8. degree — from a university
  9. clip — for paper
  10. land — to come down
  11. key — the most important part
  12. row — to paddle
  13. land — ground
  14. degree — an amount
  15. land — a country
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. pitch — completely
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. row — a line
  20. key — in music
  21. clip — a video
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. bowl — a football final

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