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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. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. game — wild animals
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. fall — the season
  8. court — of a king
  9. game — a match
  10. scale — size or range
  11. degree — from a university
  12. scale — in music
  13. bass — low music
  14. date — the fruit
  15. court — for sport
  16. bass — the fish
  17. bat — the animal
  18. court — of law
  19. fall — to drop
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. fall — to drop
  22. degree — temperature
  23. degree — an amount
  24. date — on the calendar

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