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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 ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  6. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. Where did you ________________ them?
  17. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. court — of law
  3. degree — from a university
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. mug — a face
  6. wave — a sudden rise
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. race — a contest
  10. degree — temperature
  11. mug — a cup
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. race — the arms race
  14. bass — the fish
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. mug — to rob
  17. wave — of the sea
  18. bass — low music
  19. degree — an amount
  20. race — humankind
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. wave — with your hand
  24. court — of a king

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