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

  1. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. degree — temperature
  3. degree — an amount
  4. court — of a king
  5. net — in sport
  6. dip — to sink
  7. degree — from a university
  8. game — wild animals
  9. game — a match
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. prune — to trim
  12. net — after costs
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. court — for sport
  16. court — of law
  17. net — for catching
  18. prune — to trim

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