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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
468
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: stock · cell · fall · court · degree · pitch · band · pitcher

  1. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  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. stock — a soup base
  2. fall — to drop
  3. court — of a king
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. cell — a phone
  7. band — a music group
  8. stock — goods
  9. degree — an amount
  10. stock — shares
  11. fall — to drop
  12. cell — in biology
  13. degree — temperature
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. court — for sport
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. band — a ring
  20. degree — from a university
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. fall — the season
  23. pitch — completely
  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