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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. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. degree — from a university
  3. court — for sport
  4. court — of a king
  5. sharp — clever
  6. squash — the sport
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. degree — an amount
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. degree — temperature
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. tube — a container
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. date — the fruit
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. season — of the year
  22. season — in sport
  23. squash — to crush
  24. court — of law

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