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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: vault · cold · court · sharp · pitch · club · current · pound

  1. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  13. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  14. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  15. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. cold — an illness
  3. court — for sport
  4. court — of law
  5. club — for golf
  6. sharp — clever
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. court — of a king
  9. pitch — completely
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. cold — not warm
  12. vault — a safe
  13. vault — in gymnastics
  14. vault — an arched ceiling
  15. current — of water
  16. current — electric
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. club — a group
  21. current — happening now
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. pound — a weight
  24. sharp — with an edge

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