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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  24. My father caught me by the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. arm — a part of something
  3. prune — to trim
  4. wound — an injury
  5. court — of law
  6. last — finally
  7. fine — a penalty
  8. degree — temperature
  9. degree — an amount
  10. last — to go on
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. fine — high quality
  13. court — for sport
  14. wound — an injury
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. squash — to crush
  18. prune — to trim
  19. court — of a king
  20. squash — the sport
  21. degree — from a university
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. fine — all right
  24. arm — part of the body

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