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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 flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. court — of a king
  3. degree — from a university
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. game — wild animals
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. wound — an injury
  8. spring — of water
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. wax — to grow
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. branch — a division
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. degree — an amount
  15. season — in sport
  16. court — of law
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. season — of the year
  19. spring — a coil
  20. court — for sport
  21. degree — temperature
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. wound — an injury
  24. game — a match

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