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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. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. ruler — for measuring
  3. degree — from a university
  4. ruler — a monarch
  5. capital — money
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. kid — child
  9. bore — to drill
  10. capital — a city
  11. bark — to shout
  12. court — for sport
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. court — of a king
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. bore — to tire
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. degree — an amount
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. bore — gave birth
  23. degree — temperature
  24. kid — to tease

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