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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 · land · spring · perch · pass · wind · wave

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  6. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. degree — an amount
  3. land — ground
  4. spring — the season
  5. wave — of the sea
  6. pass — a permit
  7. land — a country
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. pass — to succeed
  11. degree — from a university
  12. pass — to spend time
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. degree — temperature
  16. court — for sport
  17. perch — the fish
  18. wind — moving air
  19. spring — a coil
  20. land — to come down
  21. court — of law
  22. wind — moving air
  23. spring — of water
  24. perch — for a bird

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