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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. fine — all right
  3. chest — of your body
  4. court — of law
  5. degree — temperature
  6. club — for dancing
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. court — of a king
  9. cell — in biology
  10. chip — to eat
  11. fine — a penalty
  12. saw — the tool
  13. chest — of your body
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. club — a group
  16. degree — an amount
  17. saw — the tool
  18. chest — a box
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. degree — from a university
  21. chip — for betting
  22. cell — a phone
  23. court — for sport
  24. club — for golf

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