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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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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: court · pound · coach · bear · degree · cell

  1. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. cell — a phone
  3. cell — in biology
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. degree — from a university
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. bear — the animal
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. degree — temperature
  10. pound — a weight
  11. court — of a king
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. court — for sport
  16. degree — an amount
  17. bear — the animal
  18. court — of law

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