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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 · degree · scale · press · game · charge · fan · cell

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. The tickets are free of ________________.
  19. Did you ________________ the button?
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. Where can I ________________ my mobile?

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. degree — an amount
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. degree — from a university
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. press — a publisher
  8. court — for sport
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. scale — in music
  11. press — newspapers
  12. charge — in control
  13. scale — size or range
  14. game — a match
  15. cell — a phone
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. court — of a king
  18. charge — a price
  19. press — to push
  20. degree — temperature
  21. cell — in biology
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. game — wild animals
  24. charge — electricity

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