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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 120 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 train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. I can't ________________ this cold.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. stand — on your feet
  3. court — for sport
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. land — to come down
  6. mine — for digging
  7. degree — an amount
  8. land — ground
  9. swing — in golf
  10. stand — to bear
  11. court — of a king
  12. swing — to play on
  13. pit — a hole
  14. degree — temperature
  15. court — of law
  16. land — a country
  17. pit — in a race
  18. stand — for spectators
  19. swing — music
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. kick — in football
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. mine — belonging to me

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