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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 124 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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. degree — an amount
  3. court — of law
  4. tube — a container
  5. squash — to crush
  6. tear — to rip
  7. rock — to move gently
  8. degree — temperature
  9. pit — in a race
  10. pit — a hole
  11. court — for sport
  12. rock — music
  13. tear — from crying
  14. tube — the underground
  15. pit — a fruit stone
  16. hand — in cards
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. hand — help
  19. squash — the sport
  20. degree — from a university
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. rock — a stone
  24. tear — from crying

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