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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: march · court · kick · degree · last · wave · fall · ball

  1. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — with your hand
  2. last — final
  3. wave — of the sea
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. fall — the season
  7. court — of law
  8. march — the month
  9. wave — a sudden rise
  10. last — to go on
  11. last — finally
  12. degree — an amount
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. fall — to drop
  15. kick — in football
  16. court — for sport
  17. degree — from a university
  18. degree — temperature
  19. ball — a great time
  20. march — the month
  21. march — music
  22. court — of a king
  23. ball — a dance
  24. fall — to drop

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