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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: cell · land · court · bark · degree · mate · rule · pitch

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. cell — a phone
  4. pitch — completely
  5. bark — to shout
  6. land — a country
  7. mate — a friend
  8. degree — temperature
  9. degree — an amount
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. mate — a partner
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. rule — government
  15. mate — to breed
  16. rule — a law
  17. land — to come down
  18. land — ground
  19. degree — from a university
  20. cell — in biology
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. court — of law
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. court — of a king

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