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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 116 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 King held a masked ________________.
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. This piece is in a major ________________.
  11. I can't ________________ this cold.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. key — the most important part
  3. content — the amount
  4. degree — an amount
  5. degree — temperature
  6. stand — on your feet
  7. court — of law
  8. game — a match
  9. degree — from a university
  10. key — in music
  11. stand — to bear
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. game — wild animals
  15. key — for a lock
  16. ball — a great time
  17. court — for sport
  18. race — humankind
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. court — of a king
  21. stand — for spectators
  22. race — the arms race
  23. race — a contest
  24. content — happy

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