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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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  17. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. My father caught me by the ________________.
  20. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. present — there
  3. wave — a sudden rise
  4. shower — to wash
  5. court — for sport
  6. degree — an amount
  7. court — of law
  8. pit — a hole
  9. ground — a position
  10. degree — from a university
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. ground — the earth
  13. present — a gift
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. present — the time now
  16. wave — of the sea
  17. wave — with your hand
  18. pit — in a race
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. degree — temperature
  22. ground — crushed
  23. shower — rain
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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