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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 120 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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. When will it ________________ you to start?
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  24. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. degree — temperature
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. court — for sport
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. game — a match
  7. court — of law
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. court — of a king
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. degree — from a university
  12. ball — a great time
  13. game — wild animals
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. file — a line of people
  17. suit — to fit
  18. file — a tool
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. ball — a dance
  21. mine — for digging
  22. file — a document
  23. suit — in cards
  24. suit — clothes

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