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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 116 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: degree · bound · lash · current · net · court · field · coach

  1. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. We are ________________ to obey laws.

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

Answer key

  1. current — happening now
  2. degree — an amount
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. net — after costs
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. bound — tied together
  9. current — of water
  10. degree — temperature
  11. field — farmland
  12. field — for sport
  13. court — for sport
  14. court — of law
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. field — a subject
  17. degree — from a university
  18. net — for catching
  19. current — electric
  20. net — in sport
  21. court — of a king
  22. bound — certain
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. bound — obliged

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