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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 116 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: scale · land · shower · deal · degree · trunk · court · rule

  1. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  2. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — to handle
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. degree — temperature
  4. scale — in music
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. scale — size or range
  7. land — to come down
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. deal — an agreement
  11. land — a country
  12. degree — from a university
  13. court — of a king
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. rule — government
  16. court — of law
  17. shower — to wash
  18. land — ground
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. shower — rain
  21. rule — a law
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. degree — an amount
  24. court — for sport

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