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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. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. My father caught me by the ________________.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  20. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. Where did you ________________ them?
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. season — of the year
  5. wound — an injury
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. wound — an injury
  8. court — for sport
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. drill — army training
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. degree — an amount
  14. degree — from a university
  15. drill — a practice
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. season — in sport
  18. degree — temperature
  19. mug — a face
  20. mug — a cup
  21. drill — the tool
  22. mug — to rob
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. court — of a king

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