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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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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 · degree · wound · pound · staff · court · tear · coach

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. wound — an injury
  3. wound — an injury
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. staff — employees
  6. tear — from crying
  7. tear — from crying
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. court — of law
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. cell — in biology
  13. pound — a weight
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. court — for sport
  16. staff — a stick
  17. degree — an amount
  18. tear — to rip
  19. degree — temperature
  20. court — of a king
  21. degree — from a university
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. cell — a phone
  24. staff — employees

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