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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 120 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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. craft — a skill
  4. degree — from a university
  5. court — of a king
  6. field — a subject
  7. field — farmland
  8. field — for sport
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. degree — temperature
  12. wake — a trail
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. mate — a friend
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. mate — a partner
  17. degree — an amount
  18. craft — boats
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. court — of law
  22. plane — a tool
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. mate — to breed

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