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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 116 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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  13. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  16. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. degree — an amount
  3. court — of a king
  4. pop — soda
  5. pop — music
  6. degree — temperature
  7. march — music
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. root — of a plant
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. root — of a word
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. court — of law
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. lie — to recline
  17. march — the month
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. march — the month
  22. root — the cause
  23. degree — from a university
  24. pop — to visit

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