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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. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  2. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a round shape
  2. current — electric
  3. ball — a dance
  4. stem — to come from
  5. tear — from crying
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. court — of law
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. current — of water
  11. perch — the fish
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. tear — to rip
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. degree — from a university
  16. current — happening now
  17. court — for sport
  18. degree — temperature
  19. tear — from crying
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. court — of a king
  23. ball — a great time
  24. degree — an amount

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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