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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. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — music
  2. court — of a king
  3. net — in sport
  4. drill — the tool
  5. drill — a practice
  6. drill — army training
  7. spell — a short time
  8. court — of law
  9. swing — to play on
  10. spring — the season
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. degree — temperature
  13. degree — an amount
  14. court — for sport
  15. spring — a coil
  16. swing — in golf
  17. net — for catching
  18. rash — hasty
  19. spell — letters
  20. spell — magic
  21. rash — a series
  22. net — after costs
  23. degree — from a university
  24. spring — of water

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