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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. My mare is ________________ in color.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. bay — a part of the sea
  3. game — a match
  4. kid — child
  5. bay — a horse colour
  6. degree — temperature
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. game — wild animals
  10. degree — an amount
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. pound — a weight
  14. court — of a king
  15. ground — crushed
  16. wake — a trail
  17. kid — to tease
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. ground — the earth
  20. court — for sport
  21. bay — to keep at bay
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. court — of law
  24. ground — a position

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