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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  10. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  11. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. net — after costs
  3. file — a line of people
  4. degree — from a university
  5. march — the month
  6. court — of law
  7. court — of a king
  8. root — of a word
  9. foot — the bottom
  10. root — the cause
  11. foot — part of the body
  12. file — a tool
  13. degree — an amount
  14. net — for catching
  15. spell — magic
  16. march — music
  17. foot — a measure
  18. degree — temperature
  19. spell — a short time
  20. file — a document
  21. net — in sport
  22. march — the month
  23. root — of a plant
  24. spell — letters

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