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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 120 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. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. The ________________ went through the wall.
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. degree — from a university
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. land — ground
  8. land — to come down
  9. rush — hurry
  10. wound — an injury
  11. degree — temperature
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. court — of a king
  14. march — the month
  15. degree — an amount
  16. march — music
  17. land — a country
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. court — for sport
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. court — of law
  22. calf — of the leg
  23. wound — an injury
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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