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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 120 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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. I can't ________________ this cold.
  15. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. degree — an amount
  4. stand — on your feet
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. ball — a dance
  7. degree — temperature
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. court — of law
  10. ball — a great time
  11. field — a subject
  12. wind — moving air
  13. court — of a king
  14. stand — to bear
  15. stand — for spectators
  16. field — farmland
  17. pitch — completely
  18. court — for sport
  19. degree — from a university
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. field — for sport
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. pitcher — a jug

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