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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 ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. I've got to change the light ________________.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. The light ________________ burned out.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. row — to paddle
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. sharp — clever
  5. degree — from a university
  6. bulb — for light
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. bulb — for light
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. degree — an amount
  11. court — for sport
  12. degree — temperature
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. season — of the year
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. season — in sport
  17. court — of a king
  18. bulb — of a plant
  19. land — to come down
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. bark — to shout
  22. land — a country
  23. row — a line
  24. land — ground

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