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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 124 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 coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — in golf
  2. court — for sport
  3. game — wild animals
  4. perch — the fish
  5. last — to go on
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. last — final
  8. court — of law
  9. saw — the tool
  10. degree — an amount
  11. degree — temperature
  12. current — electric
  13. saw — the tool
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. degree — from a university
  16. current — of water
  17. game — a match
  18. swing — music
  19. court — of a king
  20. current — happening now
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. last — finally
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. swing — to play 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