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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. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. scale — in music
  3. court — for sport
  4. present — there
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. plane — in geometry
  7. degree — an amount
  8. present — the time now
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. capital — a city
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. degree — temperature
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. scale — size or range
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. capital — money
  17. plane — a tool
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. present — a gift
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. degree — from a university
  23. court — of a king
  24. plane — an aircraft

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