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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.

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: content · degree · present · file · net · bore · hand · pitcher

  1. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. present — a gift
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. content — the amount
  5. degree — temperature
  6. hand — help
  7. degree — an amount
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. net — for catching
  10. bore — to tire
  11. file — a document
  12. hand — in cards
  13. bore — to drill
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. net — in sport
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. file — a line of people
  19. degree — from a university
  20. content — happy
  21. present — there
  22. present — the time now
  23. net — after costs
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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