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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. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. court — of a king
  3. season — of the year
  4. degree — an amount
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. field — farmland
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. court — for sport
  9. tube — the underground
  10. perch — the fish
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. field — for sport
  13. pop — to visit
  14. court — of law
  15. season — in sport
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. tube — a container
  18. kick — in football
  19. degree — temperature
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. degree — from a university
  22. field — a subject
  23. pop — music
  24. tube — in a tire

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