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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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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: pitcher · suit · degree · snap · game · march · current · court

  1. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. When will it ________________ you to start?
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. suit — clothes
  3. march — the month
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. suit — to fit
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. degree — from a university
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. game — wild animals
  10. suit — in cards
  11. degree — an amount
  12. court — for sport
  13. court — of law
  14. game — a match
  15. current — happening now
  16. court — of a king
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. degree — temperature
  19. march — the month
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. current — of water
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. snap — to click
  24. current — electric

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