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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 120 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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  17. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. degree — temperature
  3. degree — from a university
  4. calf — of the leg
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. land — a country
  7. pound — a weight
  8. content — the amount
  9. land — ground
  10. court — for sport
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. land — to come down
  13. content — happy
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. face — to point toward
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. pound — for dogs
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. face — to confront
  20. degree — an amount
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. court — of law
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. face — part of the head

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