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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: calf · bat · lash · stand · court · degree · pitch · cold

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  15. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. I can't ________________ this cold.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. cold — not warm
  3. bat — the animal
  4. lash — an eyelash
  5. cold — an illness
  6. stand — for spectators
  7. degree — temperature
  8. court — for sport
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. court — of law
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. lash — a whip stroke
  16. degree — an amount
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. stand — on your feet
  19. degree — from a university
  20. stand — to bear
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. pitch — completely

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