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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 116 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. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. spell — letters
  3. court — of a king
  4. court — of law
  5. field — farmland
  6. pit — in a race
  7. field — for sport
  8. degree — from a university
  9. court — for sport
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. wind — moving air
  12. wind — moving air
  13. wake — a trail
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. club — for dancing
  16. field — a subject
  17. pit — a hole
  18. spell — a short time
  19. degree — temperature
  20. club — for golf
  21. club — a group
  22. spell — magic
  23. degree — an amount
  24. wake — before a funeral

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