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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: march · wave · scale · kid · toast · cap · degree · court

  1. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  3. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. toast — a drink to someone
  3. toast — bread
  4. court — of a king
  5. court — of law
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. scale — in music
  8. scale — size or range
  9. degree — from a university
  10. cap — a hat
  11. march — music
  12. march — the month
  13. wave — with your hand
  14. degree — an amount
  15. cap — a lid
  16. kid — child
  17. cap — of ice
  18. wave — a sudden rise
  19. degree — temperature
  20. kid — to tease
  21. court — for sport
  22. toast — the most admired
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. wave — of the sea

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