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

Word bank: vault · fine · court · degree · wind · pitch

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  7. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  8. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. fine — all right
  3. degree — temperature
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. vault — an arched ceiling
  7. vault — a safe
  8. fine — a penalty
  9. degree — from a university
  10. wind — moving air
  11. pitch — completely
  12. vault — in gymnastics
  13. court — of law
  14. wind — moving air
  15. court — for sport
  16. court — of a king
  17. fine — high quality
  18. pitch — a sports field

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