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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. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. Where did you ________________ them?
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  21. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  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. mug — a face
  2. degree — from a university
  3. court — for sport
  4. staff — employees
  5. cell — a phone
  6. wound — an injury
  7. mug — a cup
  8. ball — a great time
  9. court — of law
  10. wound — an injury
  11. bark — to shout
  12. ball — a dance
  13. degree — an amount
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. cell — in biology
  17. mug — to rob
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. degree — temperature
  20. staff — a stick
  21. staff — employees
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  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