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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: craft · field · mark · degree · court · suit · cold · foot

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  10. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  22. When will it ________________ you to start?
  23. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  24. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. degree — temperature
  3. craft — a handicraft
  4. field — a subject
  5. field — farmland
  6. mark — to pay attention
  7. court — of a king
  8. degree — an amount
  9. foot — the bottom
  10. foot — part of the body
  11. mark — a grade
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. craft — a skill
  14. court — for sport
  15. cold — not warm
  16. court — of law
  17. craft — boats
  18. cold — an illness
  19. suit — clothes
  20. field — for sport
  21. foot — a measure
  22. suit — to fit
  23. mark — a trace
  24. suit — in cards

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