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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. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  5. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. wound — an injury
  4. calf — of the leg
  5. mark — a grade
  6. mark — a trace
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. degree — temperature
  11. rash — hasty
  12. wound — an injury
  13. hand — in cards
  14. stock — shares
  15. degree — an amount
  16. hand — help
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. court — of law
  19. court — for sport
  20. rash — a series
  21. court — of a king
  22. stock — goods
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. degree — from a university

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