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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: land · pitcher · suit · degree · date · court · chest · pit

  1. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. When will it ________________ you to start?
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. pit — in a race
  3. degree — an amount
  4. chest — of your body
  5. degree — from a university
  6. court — for sport
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. degree — temperature
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. court — of law
  11. pit — a hole
  12. suit — to fit
  13. land — a country
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. date — the fruit
  16. suit — clothes
  17. chest — of your body
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. court — of a king
  20. suit — in cards
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. land — to come down
  23. chest — a box
  24. land — ground

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