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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  6. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  21. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. Let us try to swim against the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. court — of law
  4. court — for sport
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. staff — employees
  7. file — a line of people
  8. mouse — for a computer
  9. capital — money
  10. staff — a stick
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. degree — an amount
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. capital — a city
  15. season — of the year
  16. staff — employees
  17. court — of a king
  18. file — a document
  19. degree — from a university
  20. current — electric
  21. current — happening now
  22. season — in sport
  23. file — a tool
  24. current — of water

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