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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 120 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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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: bat · court · rash · key · coach · degree · wake · season

  1. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — a series
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. key — the most important part
  4. court — for sport
  5. degree — an amount
  6. court — of a king
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. key — for a lock
  10. season — of the year
  11. key — in music
  12. degree — temperature
  13. season — in sport
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. rash — hasty
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. court — of law
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. wake — a trail
  23. degree — from a university
  24. bat — the animal

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