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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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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: degree · court · pitcher · cold · vault · cue · band · fan

  1. He is an ace ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. court — of a king
  4. degree — from a university
  5. cue — for pool
  6. band — a music group
  7. degree — temperature
  8. vault — an arched ceiling
  9. court — of law
  10. cold — not warm
  11. court — for sport
  12. cold — an illness
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. vault — a safe
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. cue — a signal
  17. degree — an amount
  18. band — a ring
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. cue — a hint
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. vault — in gymnastics
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. pitcher — a jug

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