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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 120 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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  13. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  23. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. court — for sport
  3. wound — an injury
  4. court — of a king
  5. court — of law
  6. mine — for digging
  7. degree — an amount
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. can — a tin
  13. board — to get on
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. can — to be able to
  17. degree — temperature
  18. board — a committee
  19. degree — from a university
  20. swing — in golf
  21. swing — music
  22. board — a flat piece
  23. can — a tin
  24. wound — an injury

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