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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. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. We're on a ________________ here.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  9. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  13. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  14. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. roll — on a roll
  3. degree — an amount
  4. court — for sport
  5. court — of a king
  6. degree — from a university
  7. land — a country
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. land — to come down
  12. mouse — for a computer
  13. roll — a list
  14. roll — a cake
  15. land — ground
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. spring — of water
  18. fork — in a road
  19. court — of law
  20. degree — temperature
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. spring — a coil
  23. spring — the season
  24. fork — a garden tool

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