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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. swing — music
  3. cell — in biology
  4. court — of a king
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. craft — boats
  7. degree — from a university
  8. degree — temperature
  9. court — of law
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. craft — a skill
  12. swing — to play on
  13. cell — a phone
  14. rule — a law
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. court — for sport
  17. degree — an amount
  18. swing — in golf

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