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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: ground · court · coach · wound · rule · degree · game · sharp

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. wound — an injury
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. rule — government
  5. degree — from a university
  6. ground — a position
  7. ground — crushed
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. court — of a king
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. wound — an injury
  15. degree — an amount
  16. game — a match
  17. sharp — clever
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. degree — temperature
  20. game — wild animals
  21. court — for sport
  22. ground — the earth
  23. rule — a law
  24. game — a kind of play

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