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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 120 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 ball is in your ________________.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. cell — in biology
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. squash — the sport
  5. cell — a phone
  6. degree — temperature
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. deal — to handle
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. pop — soda
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. deal — a big deal
  14. ground — the earth
  15. chair — a leader
  16. squash — to crush
  17. degree — from a university
  18. ground — a position
  19. court — of a king
  20. pop — to visit
  21. pop — music
  22. ground — crushed
  23. degree — an amount
  24. court — of law

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