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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. What do you think of the new ________________?
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  13. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. degree — an amount
  3. prune — to trim
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. court — for sport
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. bank — for money
  8. cell — a phone
  9. court — of law
  10. lie — to recline
  11. cell — in biology
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. kid — to tease
  15. bank — of a river
  16. prune — to trim
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. bank — for money
  19. degree — temperature
  20. kid — child
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. degree — from a university
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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