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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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Word bank
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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: pit · last · fan · degree · net · court · bat · straw

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. net — for catching
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. last — finally
  10. pit — a hole
  11. pit — in a race
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. degree — from a university
  14. net — in sport
  15. last — to go on
  16. degree — an amount
  17. bat — the animal
  18. degree — temperature
  19. net — after costs
  20. court — of a king
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. court — of law
  24. court — for sport

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