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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. The train ________________ at six o'clock.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. court — of a king
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. tube — a container
  5. scale — in music
  6. court — of law
  7. wound — an injury
  8. degree — temperature
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. degree — from a university
  11. vault — in gymnastics
  12. tube — the underground
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. vault — an arched ceiling
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. court — for sport
  18. wound — an injury
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. scale — size or range
  22. vault — a safe
  23. bark — to shout
  24. leaves — to go away

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