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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  24. We are ________________ to obey laws.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. roll — a cake
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. deal — to handle
  5. ground — a position
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. degree — an amount
  8. bound — tied together
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. ground — the earth
  11. ground — crushed
  12. deal — an agreement
  13. degree — from a university
  14. court — of law
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. bound — certain
  17. roll — a list
  18. court — of a king
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. rule — government
  21. rule — a law
  22. degree — temperature
  23. deal — a big deal
  24. bound — obliged

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