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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. cap — of ice
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. degree — temperature
  6. court — of a king
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. content — the amount
  10. court — for sport
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. club — for dancing
  13. club — for golf
  14. file — a line of people
  15. degree — from a university
  16. cap — a lid
  17. degree — an amount
  18. file — a document
  19. court — of law
  20. club — a group
  21. file — a tool
  22. content — happy
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. cap — a hat

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