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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: degree · pit · wake · pitch · field · tube · date · mine

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. Have you settled on a ________________?
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. tube — the underground
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. degree — temperature
  5. mine — for digging
  6. field — a subject
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. field — for sport
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. pitch — completely
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. degree — from a university
  14. wake — a trail
  15. field — farmland
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. pit — a hole
  19. degree — an amount
  20. tube — a container
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. pit — in a race
  23. date — the fruit
  24. tube — in a tire

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