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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. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  3. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. cue — a signal
  3. vault — a safe
  4. sharp — clever
  5. vault — in gymnastics
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. face — to point toward
  8. degree — an amount
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. court — of a king
  11. stem — to come from
  12. degree — from a university
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. cue — a hint
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. court — of law
  18. cue — for pool
  19. face — to confront
  20. degree — temperature
  21. face — part of the head
  22. vault — an arched ceiling
  23. content — happy
  24. content — the amount

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