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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. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  7. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — out of danger
  2. tube — a container
  3. safe — a strongbox
  4. degree — from a university
  5. court — for sport
  6. ruler — for measuring
  7. safe — out of danger
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. court — of law
  10. scale — size or range
  11. field — for sport
  12. tube — the underground
  13. ruler — a monarch
  14. game — wild animals
  15. scale — in music
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. degree — temperature
  18. game — a match
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. field — a subject
  21. degree — an amount
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. field — farmland
  24. court — of a king

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