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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. cap — a hat
  3. wind — moving air
  4. court — for sport
  5. degree — from a university
  6. degree — an amount
  7. cap — a lid
  8. club — for golf
  9. court — of law
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. ground — a position
  12. club — for dancing
  13. bat — the animal
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. ground — the earth
  16. wind — moving air
  17. ground — crushed
  18. club — a group
  19. cap — of ice
  20. degree — temperature
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. pitch — completely
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. bat — in an idiom

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