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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 · board · clip · suit · mark · degree · ball · swing

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. When will it ________________ you to start?
  6. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  19. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. degree — an amount
  3. clip — for paper
  4. degree — temperature
  5. suit — to fit
  6. mark — a grade
  7. ball — a dance
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. court — of law
  11. degree — from a university
  12. swing — in golf
  13. suit — in cards
  14. swing — to play on
  15. clip — to cut
  16. court — of a king
  17. mark — a trace
  18. board — a flat piece
  19. board — to get on
  20. ball — a great time
  21. suit — clothes
  22. swing — music
  23. board — a committee
  24. clip — a video

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