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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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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: clip · racket · perch · tear · wind · court · pitch · degree

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. degree — from a university
  4. pitch — completely
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. tear — from crying
  7. court — for sport
  8. perch — the fish
  9. clip — a video
  10. wind — moving air
  11. court — of a king
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. tear — to rip
  16. clip — for paper
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. tear — from crying
  20. degree — an amount
  21. degree — temperature
  22. clip — to cut
  23. wind — moving air
  24. perch — for a bird

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