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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. Hard work is the ________________ to success.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. key — in music
  4. clip — for paper
  5. shower — to wash
  6. degree — from a university
  7. stock — goods
  8. stock — shares
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. clip — to cut
  11. shower — rain
  12. court — for sport
  13. clip — a video
  14. key — for a lock
  15. court — of law
  16. snap — to click
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. degree — temperature
  22. degree — an amount
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. key — the most important part

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