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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 120 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. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. When was this ________________ built?
  8. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  9. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  10. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. bass — the fish
  3. court — of law
  4. root — of a word
  5. degree — from a university
  6. shower — to wash
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. staff — a stick
  10. temple — side of the head
  11. degree — an amount
  12. can — to be able to
  13. bass — low music
  14. root — of a plant
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. staff — employees
  17. court — of a king
  18. can — a tin
  19. staff — employees
  20. can — a tin
  21. degree — temperature
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. root — the cause
  24. shower — rain

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