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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  3. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. foot — the bottom
  3. foot — a measure
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. court — for sport
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. fork — in a road
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. march — music
  12. degree — temperature
  13. march — the month
  14. bat — the animal
  15. snap — to click
  16. foot — part of the body
  17. tear — to rip
  18. tear — from crying
  19. tear — from crying
  20. court — of a king
  21. court — of law
  22. march — the month
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. degree — an amount

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