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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 strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. calf — of the leg
  3. court — of a king
  4. degree — an amount
  5. degree — temperature
  6. mine — for digging
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. row — a line
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. row — to paddle
  14. wind — moving air
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. degree — from a university
  17. net — after costs
  18. net — for catching
  19. net — in sport
  20. court — for sport
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. court — of law
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. row — a quarrel

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