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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. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. Did you ________________ the button?
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  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. court — of law
  2. band — a music group
  3. court — for sport
  4. court — of a king
  5. degree — temperature
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. race — a contest
  12. game — wild animals
  13. kick — in football
  14. race — humankind
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. press — a publisher
  17. game — a match
  18. press — newspapers
  19. degree — an amount
  20. race — the arms race
  21. band — a ring
  22. press — to push
  23. kick — a thrill
  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