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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. game — wild animals
  3. pit — a hole
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. court — of a king
  6. bass — low music
  7. race — a contest
  8. court — of law
  9. degree — from a university
  10. bass — the fish
  11. race — humankind
  12. chest — of your body
  13. wave — of the sea
  14. chest — a box
  15. pit — in a race
  16. chest — of your body
  17. wave — with your hand
  18. game — a match
  19. degree — temperature
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. degree — an amount
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. race — the arms race
  24. wave — a sudden rise

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