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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: degree · kid · court · date · wound · bear · squash · tube

  1. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. Have you settled on a ________________?
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. date — the fruit
  3. court — of a king
  4. squash — to crush
  5. bear — the animal
  6. degree — an amount
  7. wound — an injury
  8. kid — child
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. bear — the animal
  13. degree — temperature
  14. kid — to tease
  15. wound — an injury
  16. squash — the sport
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. degree — from a university
  19. tube — a container
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. court — of law
  22. tube — the underground
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. court — for sport

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