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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  13. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  14. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. file — a tool
  3. file — a document
  4. cap — of ice
  5. degree — an amount
  6. court — of a king
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. bank — of a river
  9. root — the cause
  10. fall — to drop
  11. degree — temperature
  12. bear — the animal
  13. bank — for money
  14. bank — for money
  15. bear — the animal
  16. cap — a hat
  17. file — a line of people
  18. fall — the season
  19. root — of a word
  20. cap — a lid
  21. fall — to drop
  22. court — of law
  23. root — of a plant
  24. degree — from a university

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