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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: pop · bowl · pitcher · degree · row · hide · scale · land

  1. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. land — ground
  4. degree — temperature
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. pop — to visit
  8. degree — from a university
  9. degree — an amount
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. land — a country
  13. pop — music
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. row — to paddle
  17. pop — soda
  18. scale — in music
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. row — a line
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. scale — size or range
  24. land — to come down

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