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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 ball is in your ________________.
  2. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. fork — in a road
  3. degree — from a university
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. mine — for digging
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. kid — child
  8. racket — a loud noise
  9. shower — to wash
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. kid — to tease
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. wax — to grow
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. shower — rain
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. degree — an amount
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. degree — temperature
  23. court — of a king
  24. court — of law

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