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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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. court — for sport
  3. season — in sport
  4. degree — temperature
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. object — to protest
  7. court — of law
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. lean — thin
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. game — wild animals
  13. saw — the tool
  14. object — an aim
  15. bass — low music
  16. degree — an amount
  17. degree — from a university
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. season — of the year
  20. bass — the fish
  21. lean — to bend
  22. court — of a king
  23. object — a thing
  24. game — a match

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