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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.

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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 · game · degree · cue · mate · object · band · pass

  1. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  4. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  8. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  9. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  10. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. band — a ring
  3. pass — a permit
  4. cue — a signal
  5. court — of a king
  6. object — to protest
  7. pass — to spend time
  8. cue — a hint
  9. object — a thing
  10. object — an aim
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. degree — temperature
  13. degree — from a university
  14. court — for sport
  15. band — a music group
  16. mate — to breed
  17. cue — for pool
  18. degree — an amount
  19. game — wild animals
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. mate — a friend
  22. pass — to succeed
  23. game — a match
  24. court — of law

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