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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: row · degree · pound · hand · pitch · court · clip · pitcher

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. row — to paddle
  4. degree — from a university
  5. pound — a weight
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. court — of law
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. row — a line
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. court — of a king
  14. degree — an amount
  15. hand — help
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. pitch — completely
  18. hand — in cards
  19. court — for sport
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. degree — temperature
  23. clip — to cut
  24. clip — a video

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