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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  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 — from a university
  3. mine — for digging
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. rule — government
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. field — a subject
  8. court — of law
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. degree — an amount
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. rule — a law
  13. court — for sport
  14. field — farmland
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. calf — of the leg
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. field — for sport
  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