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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: bass · degree · leaves · drill · net · tear · hand · present

  1. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. The train ________________ at six o'clock.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. bass — low music
  3. hand — help
  4. tear — from crying
  5. bass — the fish
  6. hand — in cards
  7. drill — the tool
  8. net — in sport
  9. present — the time now
  10. degree — an amount
  11. degree — from a university
  12. tear — to rip
  13. net — for catching
  14. tear — from crying
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. degree — temperature
  17. drill — a practice
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. present — there
  20. leaves — of a tree
  21. net — after costs
  22. present — a gift
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. leaves — to go away

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