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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.

Words on the sheet
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Word bank
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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: degree · cold · ball · lean · tear · leaves · staff · court

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  19. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. lean — thin
  3. ball — a great time
  4. tear — from crying
  5. staff — a stick
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. lean — to bend
  8. leaves — of a tree
  9. degree — an amount
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. leaves — lets stay
  12. tear — to rip
  13. court — of a king
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. court — for sport
  16. degree — temperature
  17. cold — an illness
  18. staff — employees
  19. leaves — to go away
  20. tear — from crying
  21. staff — employees
  22. degree — from a university
  23. ball — a dance
  24. cold — not warm

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