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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  21. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. court — for sport
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. current — happening now
  5. degree — from a university
  6. content — the amount
  7. court — of law
  8. bank — for money
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. court — of a king
  12. hand — in cards
  13. cabinet — a cupboard
  14. content — happy
  15. land — ground
  16. land — a country
  17. bank — of a river
  18. land — to come down
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. current — of water
  21. current — electric
  22. degree — temperature
  23. hand — help
  24. bank — for money

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