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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. cap — a hat
  3. bound — certain
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. court — of a king
  6. degree — from a university
  7. degree — temperature
  8. cap — of ice
  9. degree — an amount
  10. cap — a lid
  11. bound — tied together
  12. court — for sport
  13. bound — obliged
  14. last — finally
  15. court — of law
  16. present — a gift
  17. pit — in a race
  18. net — in sport
  19. net — for catching
  20. present — the time now
  21. last — to go on
  22. present — there
  23. pit — a hole
  24. net — after costs

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