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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 116 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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. hand — help
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. degree — an amount
  6. row — to paddle
  7. degree — from a university
  8. row — a line
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. present — the time now
  11. court — for sport
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. present — there
  14. ground — a position
  15. hand — in cards
  16. ground — crushed
  17. court — of law
  18. ground — the earth
  19. branch — a division
  20. saw — the tool
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. saw — the tool
  23. degree — temperature
  24. court — of a king

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