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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 ball is in your ________________.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  8. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  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 — for sport
  2. court — of law
  3. degree — from a university
  4. object — a thing
  5. cold — an illness
  6. object — to protest
  7. jam — to spread on bread
  8. jam — a tight spot
  9. stock — shares
  10. object — an aim
  11. degree — an amount
  12. jam — in traffic
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. kid — to tease
  15. stock — goods
  16. cold — not warm
  17. can — to be able to
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. kid — child
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. can — a tin
  22. degree — temperature
  23. can — a tin
  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