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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 museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. court — of law
  3. court — for sport
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. wax — to grow
  6. club — a group
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. degree — from a university
  9. degree — temperature
  10. pitch — completely
  11. mine — for digging
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. degree — an amount
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. club — for golf
  17. club — for dancing
  18. squash — the sport
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. court — of a king
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. squash — to crush

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