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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. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. The light ________________ burned out.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  10. I've got to change the light ________________.
  11. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. degree — from a university
  3. land — a country
  4. wave — a sudden rise
  5. court — for sport
  6. roll — a list
  7. bulb — for light
  8. fall — to drop
  9. wave — with your hand
  10. bulb — for light
  11. wave — of the sea
  12. scale — size or range
  13. land — to come down
  14. fall — to drop
  15. court — of a king
  16. bulb — of a plant
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. land — ground
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. scale — in music
  21. court — of law
  22. degree — temperature
  23. fall — the season
  24. degree — an amount

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