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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. court — of law
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. degree — an amount
  5. root — the cause
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. file — a document
  8. file — a line of people
  9. ball — a dance
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. wind — moving air
  12. court — of a king
  13. degree — from a university
  14. plane — a tool
  15. court — for sport
  16. tube — a container
  17. ball — a great time
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. tube — the underground
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. file — a tool
  22. root — of a plant
  23. root — of a word
  24. wind — moving air

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