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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 ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. degree — from a university
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. court — for sport
  5. degree — temperature
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. plane — in geometry
  8. season — in sport
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. shower — to wash
  12. object — a thing
  13. court — of a king
  14. plane — a tool
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. snap — to click
  17. degree — an amount
  18. object — an aim
  19. shower — rain
  20. object — to protest
  21. land — to come down
  22. land — ground
  23. land — a country
  24. season — of the year

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