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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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. court — of a king
  3. pop — to visit
  4. court — of law
  5. pop — soda
  6. cell — in biology
  7. kid — child
  8. kid — to tease
  9. degree — from a university
  10. pop — music
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. degree — an amount
  13. sharp — clever
  14. cell — a phone
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. degree — temperature
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. 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