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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. degree — temperature
  3. kid — to tease
  4. file — a document
  5. nail — on a finger
  6. kid — child
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. file — a line of people
  10. wake — a trail
  11. drill — a practice
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. degree — from a university
  14. drill — army training
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. court — of law
  18. drill — the tool
  19. file — a tool
  20. stick — to attach or keep to
  21. degree — an amount
  22. court — for sport
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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