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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 ball is in your ________________.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. court — of law
  3. wind — moving air
  4. degree — an amount
  5. wind — moving air
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. chip — to eat
  8. scale — size or range
  9. wax — to grow
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. scale — in music
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. stem — to come from
  14. chip — for betting
  15. degree — from a university
  16. rest — what's left
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. court — of a king
  19. rest — a break
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. degree — temperature
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. rest — what's left

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