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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: nail · mark · board · court · perch · cold · degree · pit

  1. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  2. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  21. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  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. nail — for a hammer
  2. mark — a trace
  3. court — of law
  4. mark — a grade
  5. pit — a hole
  6. cold — not warm
  7. board — a flat piece
  8. cold — an illness
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. pit — in a race
  11. degree — from a university
  12. board — to get on
  13. perch — the fish
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. court — for sport
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. mark — to pay attention
  19. degree — an amount
  20. board — a committee
  21. nail — on a finger
  22. degree — temperature
  23. perch — for a bird
  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