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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. land — ground
  3. rock — to move gently
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. court — of a king
  6. rock — a stone
  7. degree — an amount
  8. fork — in a road
  9. degree — from a university
  10. degree — temperature
  11. rash — hasty
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. court — of law
  14. rash — a series
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. track — to keep track
  18. land — a country
  19. track — a song
  20. dip — to dunk
  21. dip — to sink
  22. track — a path
  23. rock — music
  24. land — to come down

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