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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: shower · degree · pitch · tear · bulb · pit · hide · field

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. The light ________________ burned out.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. I've got to change the light ________________.
  17. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. tear — from crying
  3. pit — in a race
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. bulb — for light
  6. pitch — completely
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. field — a subject
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. tear — from crying
  12. shower — rain
  13. degree — temperature
  14. bulb — of a plant
  15. tear — to rip
  16. bulb — for light
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. field — for sport
  19. shower — to wash
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. pit — a hole
  23. degree — from a university
  24. field — farmland

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