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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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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: game · current · court · squash · spring · degree · wound · safe

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  24. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. current — electric
  3. squash — to crush
  4. safe — out of danger
  5. degree — from a university
  6. degree — temperature
  7. court — for sport
  8. degree — an amount
  9. spring — of water
  10. court — of a king
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. court — of law
  13. game — wild animals
  14. squash — the sport
  15. safe — a strongbox
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. current — of water
  18. wound — an injury
  19. spring — a coil
  20. wound — an injury
  21. game — a match
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. current — happening now
  24. safe — out of danger

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