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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 120 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: mine · rock · ball · face · degree · bat · court · stem

  1. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. bat — the animal
  3. degree — from a university
  4. court — of a king
  5. court — for sport
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. ball — a great time
  8. face — part of the head
  9. rock — to move gently
  10. face — to confront
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. rock — a stone
  14. stem — to come from
  15. mine — for digging
  16. degree — temperature
  17. face — to point toward
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. rock — music
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. court — of law
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. degree — an amount
  24. bat — for baseball

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