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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. When was this ________________ built?
  19. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  20. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  21. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. degree — temperature
  8. cold — not warm
  9. content — the amount
  10. degree — from a university
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. key — the most important part
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. content — happy
  15. court — for sport
  16. court — of law
  17. pitch — completely
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. key — for a lock
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. temple — side of the head
  22. key — in music
  23. degree — an amount
  24. cold — an illness

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