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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. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  14. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  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. lean — thin
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. degree — an amount
  4. lean — to bend
  5. court — for sport
  6. chest — a box
  7. scale — in music
  8. degree — from a university
  9. chest — of your body
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. degree — temperature
  12. scale — size or range
  13. wave — of the sea
  14. wave — a sudden rise
  15. court — of law
  16. wave — with your hand
  17. chest — of your body
  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