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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. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  4. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. When was this ________________ built?
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. court — of law
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. bound — tied together
  5. pit — a hole
  6. bound — obliged
  7. season — of the year
  8. bound — certain
  9. court — of a king
  10. degree — from a university
  11. season — in sport
  12. vault — a safe
  13. drill — the tool
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. temple — side of the head
  17. degree — temperature
  18. pit — in a race
  19. drill — army training
  20. vault — in gymnastics
  21. drill — a practice
  22. degree — an amount
  23. vault — an arched ceiling
  24. court — for sport

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