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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: degree · saw · sharp · scale · court · pitch · coach · roll

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. We're on a ________________ here.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. court — of a king
  4. roll — a list
  5. court — for sport
  6. saw — the tool
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. roll — on a roll
  9. sharp — clever
  10. scale — size or range
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. pitch — completely
  14. degree — from a university
  15. saw — the tool
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. scale — in music
  18. degree — temperature
  19. court — of law
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. roll — a cake
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. pitch — a sports field

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