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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. What do you think of the new ________________?
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. court — for sport
  3. cabinet — a cupboard
  4. court — of a king
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. court — of law
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. pop — music
  11. prune — to trim
  12. rush — hurry
  13. prune — to trim
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. mate — a friend
  17. mate — a partner
  18. degree — from a university
  19. cold — not warm
  20. pop — to visit
  21. degree — temperature
  22. pop — soda
  23. mate — to breed
  24. degree — an amount

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