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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  24. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. present — there
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. present — the time now
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. court — of a king
  8. degree — an amount
  9. jam — in traffic
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. court — of law
  12. bat — the animal
  13. court — for sport
  14. jam — a tight spot
  15. bass — the fish
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. degree — temperature
  21. bass — low music
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. jam — to spread on bread
  24. present — a gift

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