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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: cold · court · calf · degree · racket · rash · net · leaves

  1. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  20. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. court — of law
  3. degree — temperature
  4. cold — not warm
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. net — in sport
  7. net — for catching
  8. net — after costs
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. degree — from a university
  11. cold — an illness
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. degree — an amount
  15. rash — a series
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. court — for sport
  18. court — of a king
  19. leaves — lets stay
  20. leaves — of a tree
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. leaves — to go away
  24. racket — for tennis

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