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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: pit · degree · wake · court · kid · wave

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. degree — from a university
  3. wave — a sudden rise
  4. kid — child
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. pit — in a race
  7. wave — of the sea
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. court — of law
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. kid — to tease
  12. degree — an amount
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. pit — a hole
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. degree — temperature
  17. wake — a trail
  18. court — for sport

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