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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. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  16. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. degree — temperature
  3. squash — to crush
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. squash — the sport
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. court — of a king
  8. court — of law
  9. degree — an amount
  10. content — happy
  11. spring — the season
  12. spring — of water
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. degree — from a university
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. court — for sport
  19. ruler — a monarch
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. spring — a coil
  22. branch — a division
  23. content — the amount
  24. branch — of a bank

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