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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: wound · degree · court · pitcher · jam · cue · plane · land

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. The ________________ took off on time.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. land — ground
  4. cue — a signal
  5. land — to come down
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. plane — an aircraft
  9. wound — an injury
  10. jam — in traffic
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. jam — a tight spot
  14. degree — temperature
  15. degree — an amount
  16. degree — from a university
  17. cue — a hint
  18. court — of a king
  19. court — for sport
  20. plane — a tool
  21. land — a country
  22. jam — to spread on bread
  23. court — of law
  24. cue — for pool

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