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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 116 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. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. bass — the fish
  3. mark — a trace
  4. degree — from a university
  5. bound — tied together
  6. mark — a grade
  7. capital — money
  8. capital — a city
  9. court — for sport
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. degree — temperature
  12. mark — to pay attention
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. bound — obliged
  15. bound — certain
  16. degree — an amount
  17. bass — low music
  18. court — of a king

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