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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: land · squash · court · staff · bear · cell · degree · deal

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  13. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. land — a country
  3. staff — employees
  4. land — to come down
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. degree — an amount
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. bear — the animal
  9. squash — the sport
  10. cell — a phone
  11. deal — to handle
  12. staff — employees
  13. deal — a big deal
  14. bear — the animal
  15. cell — in biology
  16. degree — from a university
  17. squash — to crush
  18. court — of law
  19. degree — temperature
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. court — of a king
  22. staff — a stick
  23. deal — an agreement
  24. land — ground

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