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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. march — the month
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. court — of law
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. season — in sport
  8. rule — a law
  9. spell — letters
  10. march — the month
  11. spell — a short time
  12. degree — an amount
  13. bound — tied together
  14. bound — certain
  15. mine — for digging
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. rule — government
  18. bound — obliged
  19. march — music
  20. season — of the year
  21. court — for sport
  22. spell — magic
  23. degree — temperature
  24. court — of a king

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