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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. pop — soda
  3. bear — the animal
  4. court — of a king
  5. court — for sport
  6. pop — music
  7. degree — temperature
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. degree — from a university
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. march — the month
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. fork — in a road
  14. file — a tool
  15. mouse — for a computer
  16. march — music
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. degree — an amount
  19. court — of law
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. bear — the animal
  22. file — a line of people
  23. file — a document
  24. pop — to visit

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