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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. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. mouse — for a computer
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. rash — a series
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. swing — music
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. rush — hurry
  10. court — of a king
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. swing — to play on
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. swing — in golf
  15. rash — hasty
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. court — for sport
  18. degree — from a university
  19. game — a match
  20. game — wild animals
  21. degree — an amount
  22. court — of law
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. degree — temperature

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