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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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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: pound · lash · degree · cell · hide · court · trunk · pitch

  1. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. lash — an eyelash
  3. degree — an amount
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. court — of a king
  8. court — for sport
  9. cell — in biology
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. pitch — completely
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. degree — from a university
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. pound — a weight
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. degree — temperature
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. cell — a phone
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. court — of law

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