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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 ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. spell — letters
  5. wake — a trail
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. court — for sport
  8. game — wild animals
  9. bowl — a football final
  10. content — happy
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. degree — temperature
  13. content — the amount
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. degree — from a university
  17. net — in sport
  18. spell — magic
  19. net — for catching
  20. spell — a short time
  21. degree — an amount
  22. game — a match
  23. net — after costs
  24. court — of a king

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