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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: wax · foot · court · degree · season · bat · content · pit

  1. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  17. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  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. wax — for sculpting
  2. degree — an amount
  3. degree — temperature
  4. content — happy
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. season — of the year
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. content — the amount
  9. court — for sport
  10. foot — the bottom
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. wax — to grow
  13. degree — from a university
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. foot — part of the body
  17. foot — a measure
  18. pit — a hole
  19. bat — the animal
  20. court — of a king
  21. pit — in a race
  22. season — in sport
  23. content — videos and posts
  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