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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  16. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. Hard work is the ________________ to success.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. kid — to tease
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. kid — child
  6. perch — the fish
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. wind — moving air
  9. prune — to trim
  10. court — for sport
  11. key — in music
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. prune — to trim
  14. degree — an amount
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. ruler — a monarch
  17. key — for a lock
  18. degree — from a university
  19. court — of law
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. degree — temperature
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. wind — moving air
  24. key — the most important part

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