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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: court · drill · firm · pitcher · present · track · straw · degree

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  6. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. firm — decided
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. firm — a company
  6. firm — steady
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. court — of law
  10. drill — the tool
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. present — the time now
  14. drill — a practice
  15. track — a song
  16. present — a gift
  17. present — there
  18. degree — an amount
  19. court — of a king
  20. degree — temperature
  21. track — to keep track
  22. track — a path
  23. drill — army training
  24. court — for sport

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