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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 116 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. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. mine — for digging
  4. last — final
  5. last — finally
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. squash — the sport
  9. degree — temperature
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. current — happening now
  13. wind — moving air
  14. current — of water
  15. court — for sport
  16. degree — an amount
  17. court — of law
  18. perch — the fish
  19. wind — moving air
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. squash — to crush
  22. current — electric
  23. degree — from a university
  24. last — to go on

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