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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 owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. court — of law
  3. pit — in a race
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. court — for sport
  6. degree — from a university
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. swing — in golf
  9. pit — a hole
  10. degree — an amount
  11. swing — to play on
  12. swing — music
  13. court — of a king
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. perch — the fish
  16. fall — the season
  17. degree — temperature
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. fall — to drop
  20. dip — to sink
  21. fall — to drop
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. kick — in football
  24. dip — to dunk

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