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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. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. We're on a ________________ here.
  4. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. Have you settled on a ________________?
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. court — of law
  3. roll — on a roll
  4. foot — part of the body
  5. degree — an amount
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. kid — child
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. foot — the bottom
  11. date — the fruit
  12. toast — the most admired
  13. court — for sport
  14. degree — from a university
  15. toast — a drink to someone
  16. court — of a king
  17. foot — a measure
  18. kid — to tease
  19. roll — a list
  20. hand — in cards
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. hand — help
  23. degree — temperature
  24. roll — a cake

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