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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. What do you think of the new ________________?
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  23. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. tube — a container
  3. court — for sport
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. cabinet — a cupboard
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. tube — the underground
  8. degree — from a university
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. rash — a series
  11. spell — magic
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. degree — an amount
  14. wave — with your hand
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. court — of law
  17. court — of a king
  18. spell — letters
  19. degree — temperature
  20. spell — a short time
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. wave — a sudden rise
  24. wave — of the sea

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