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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 ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. race — humankind
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. degree — from a university
  6. cue — for pool
  7. stem — to come from
  8. kick — in football
  9. march — the month
  10. cue — a hint
  11. degree — temperature
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. court — for sport
  14. cue — a signal
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. degree — an amount
  18. march — music
  19. race — a contest
  20. race — the arms race
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. court — of a king
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. march — the month

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