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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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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: court · board · cold · pitcher · race · degree · bowl · branch

  1. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a tree
  2. court — of a king
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. cold — not warm
  5. board — to get on
  6. degree — temperature
  7. degree — from a university
  8. race — humankind
  9. cold — an illness
  10. branch — a division
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. board — a committee
  13. court — for sport
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. court — of law
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. race — the arms race
  19. board — a flat piece
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. bowl — a dish
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. race — a contest
  24. degree — an amount

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