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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. I assure you, everything's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. hand — help
  3. court — of law
  4. fine — a penalty
  5. march — the month
  6. firm — steady
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. firm — a company
  9. last — finally
  10. perch — the fish
  11. last — final
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. march — music
  14. court — for sport
  15. march — the month
  16. fine — high quality
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. court — of a king
  19. last — to go on
  20. firm — decided
  21. degree — from a university
  22. degree — an amount
  23. hand — in cards
  24. fine — all right

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