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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 · court · game · key · bear · pitcher · field · wound

  1. He is an ace ________________.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. court — for sport
  3. degree — an amount
  4. field — farmland
  5. field — for sport
  6. field — a subject
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. bear — the animal
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. court — of law
  11. degree — from a university
  12. game — wild animals
  13. court — of a king
  14. wound — an injury
  15. bear — the animal
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. key — in music
  18. bear — to put up with
  19. game — a match
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. key — for a lock
  22. degree — temperature
  23. key — the most important part
  24. wound — an injury

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