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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 116 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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. bear — the animal
  3. face — to point toward
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. degree — an amount
  6. game — a match
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. file — a line of people
  9. court — of law
  10. file — a document
  11. face — part of the head
  12. rush — hurry
  13. degree — from a university
  14. file — a tool
  15. degree — temperature
  16. face — to confront
  17. court — for sport
  18. chip — to eat
  19. game — wild animals
  20. bear — the animal
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. chip — for betting
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. chip — in a computer

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