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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. march — the month
  3. firm — steady
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. fork — in a road
  6. squash — to crush
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. court — of a king
  9. degree — from a university
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. firm — a company
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. ball — a dance
  14. march — the month
  15. march — music
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. court — of law
  18. ball — a great time
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. court — for sport
  21. degree — temperature
  22. firm — decided
  23. squash — the sport
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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