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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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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: wound · court · pitch · pitcher · bowl · rest · racket · degree

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. court — of law
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. court — of a king
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. court — for sport
  12. degree — temperature
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. rest — what's left
  15. pitch — completely
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. rest — a break
  18. bowl — a dish
  19. degree — from a university
  20. rest — what's left
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. degree — an amount
  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