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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: degree · staff · wind · court · pound · racket

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. staff — a stick
  3. court — of a king
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. wind — moving air
  6. degree — temperature
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. staff — employees
  9. degree — an amount
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. court — of law
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. wind — moving air
  15. court — for sport
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. pound — a weight
  18. staff — employees

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