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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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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: stand · wind · key · ball · kick · degree · land · court

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. I can't ________________ this cold.
  16. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  19. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. court — of a king
  3. court — of law
  4. land — to come down
  5. land — ground
  6. wind — moving air
  7. key — in music
  8. land — a country
  9. wind — moving air
  10. kick — in football
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. court — for sport
  13. ball — a great time
  14. degree — an amount
  15. stand — to bear
  16. key — the most important part
  17. ball — a dance
  18. stand — for spectators
  19. key — for a lock
  20. degree — temperature
  21. stand — on your feet
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. kick — a thrill

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