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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: sharp · staff · court · degree · pound · club · band · perch

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. degree — an amount
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. staff — employees
  5. band — a ring
  6. pound — a weight
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. club — for dancing
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. degree — from a university
  14. court — of a king
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. degree — temperature
  17. court — of law
  18. staff — employees
  19. sharp — clever
  20. staff — a stick
  21. perch — the fish
  22. club — for golf
  23. court — for sport
  24. club — a group

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