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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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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: date · court · bear · kick · pass · squash · degree · cell

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. bear — the animal
  3. squash — the sport
  4. degree — an amount
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. pass — to spend time
  7. date — the fruit
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. court — of law
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. degree — from a university
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. pass — a permit
  15. court — of a king
  16. cell — in biology
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. pass — to succeed
  19. degree — temperature
  20. squash — to crush
  21. cell — a phone
  22. bear — the animal
  23. kick — in football
  24. kick — with a leg

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