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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: mate · squash · chip · scale · degree · court · row · wound

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. scale — in music
  3. row — a line
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. chip — for betting
  6. court — for sport
  7. squash — the sport
  8. squash — to crush
  9. scale — size or range
  10. wound — an injury
  11. court — of law
  12. mate — a partner
  13. row — to paddle
  14. degree — temperature
  15. mate — to breed
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. chip — to eat
  18. mate — a friend
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. degree — an amount
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. court — of a king
  24. wound — an injury

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