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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. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. wind — moving air
  3. degree — from a university
  4. court — of a king
  5. date — the fruit
  6. court — of law
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. wind — moving air
  9. degree — temperature
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. face — to confront
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. face — to point toward
  15. spell — magic
  16. spell — a short time
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. court — for sport
  19. game — a match
  20. degree — an amount
  21. game — wild animals
  22. spell — letters
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. face — part of the head

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