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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: degree · cell · key · row · court · hand · pit · fan

  1. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. This piece is in a major ________________.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. row — a line
  3. pit — in a race
  4. hand — in cards
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. court — for sport
  8. cell — in biology
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. key — in music
  11. hand — help
  12. pit — a hole
  13. degree — an amount
  14. court — of a king
  15. cell — a phone
  16. degree — from a university
  17. key — the most important part
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. court — of law
  20. degree — temperature
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. row — to paddle
  24. key — for a lock

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