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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: court · last · kid · track · degree · current · rash · mate

  1. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. current — electric
  3. degree — from a university
  4. court — of a king
  5. last — final
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. rash — a series
  8. mate — a friend
  9. court — for sport
  10. kid — child
  11. court — of law
  12. degree — an amount
  13. track — a song
  14. last — finally
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. current — happening now
  17. mate — to breed
  18. track — to keep track
  19. degree — temperature
  20. rash — hasty
  21. last — to go on
  22. kid — to tease
  23. current — of water
  24. track — a path

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