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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  17. What do you think of the new ________________?
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. degree — an amount
  3. shower — to wash
  4. court — for sport
  5. mark — a grade
  6. branch — a division
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. mark — a trace
  10. degree — from a university
  11. bound — obliged
  12. bound — tied together
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. bound — certain
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. shower — rain
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. cabinet — a cupboard
  22. court — of law
  23. mine — for digging
  24. degree — temperature

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