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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 116 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. That was a fun ________________.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. game — a match
  3. court — of law
  4. capital — money
  5. lash — an eyelash
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. bass — low music
  8. degree — temperature
  9. court — for sport
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. capital — a city
  12. degree — from a university
  13. mate — a friend
  14. game — wild animals
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. net — after costs
  17. mate — to breed
  18. lash — a whip stroke
  19. net — for catching
  20. net — in sport
  21. bass — the fish
  22. mate — a partner
  23. court — of a king
  24. bass — the instrument

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