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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. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  6. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  11. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — decided
  2. court — for sport
  3. ball — a great time
  4. cold — an illness
  5. calf — of the leg
  6. vault — a safe
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. net — for catching
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. vault — in gymnastics
  12. cold — not warm
  13. net — after costs
  14. firm — steady
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. court — of law
  17. degree — from a university
  18. ball — a dance
  19. degree — temperature
  20. net — in sport
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. degree — an amount
  23. firm — a company
  24. court — of a king

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