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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. When will it ________________ you to start?
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. court — for sport
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. degree — temperature
  5. court — of law
  6. cell — a phone
  7. degree — from a university
  8. bat — the animal
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. suit — to fit
  11. drill — army training
  12. kid — child
  13. degree — an amount
  14. kid — to tease
  15. suit — clothes
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. suit — in cards
  18. face — to point toward
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. drill — a practice
  21. face — part of the head
  22. drill — the tool
  23. cell — in biology
  24. face — to confront

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