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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  4. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  7. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  8. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. court — of a king
  3. bear — to put up with
  4. ruler — for measuring
  5. degree — an amount
  6. ruler — for measuring
  7. ruler — a monarch
  8. bear — the animal
  9. sharp — clever
  10. band — a music group
  11. court — for sport
  12. band — a ring
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. degree — temperature
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. bear — the animal
  18. court — of law

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