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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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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 · lie · pit · shower · court · cold · leaves · club

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  4. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. club — a group
  3. leaves — of a tree
  4. leaves — lets stay
  5. court — of a king
  6. pit — in a race
  7. court — of law
  8. pit — a hole
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. lie — to recline
  12. court — for sport
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. club — for golf
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. cold — not warm
  17. shower — to wash
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. degree — temperature
  20. cold — an illness
  21. club — for dancing
  22. shower — rain
  23. degree — an amount
  24. cold — the Cold War

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