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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  11. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  12. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  15. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. court — for sport
  4. court — of law
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. tear — from crying
  7. board — to get on
  8. degree — temperature
  9. wound — an injury
  10. can — a tin
  11. board — a committee
  12. can — to be able to
  13. degree — an amount
  14. vault — an arched ceiling
  15. vault — a safe
  16. cold — not warm
  17. vault — in gymnastics
  18. tear — from crying
  19. wound — an injury
  20. board — a flat piece
  21. tear — to rip
  22. degree — from a university
  23. cold — an illness
  24. can — a tin

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