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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 116 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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  20. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. degree — an amount
  5. court — for sport
  6. wave — a sudden rise
  7. bore — to tire
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. pound — a weight
  12. degree — from a university
  13. net — after costs
  14. court — of law
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. court — of a king
  18. chair — a leader
  19. wave — of the sea
  20. bore — gave birth
  21. bore — to drill
  22. degree — temperature
  23. net — for catching
  24. pitch — completely

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