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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 ball is in your ________________.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. court — of a king
  4. date — the fruit
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. degree — from a university
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. file — a document
  10. degree — an amount
  11. snap — to click
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. court — of law
  14. file — a tool
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. cue — for pool
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. cue — a hint
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. degree — temperature
  22. file — a line of people
  23. cue — a signal
  24. date — on the calendar

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