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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 116 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.

Words on the sheet
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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 · land · game · court · prune · scale · cabinet · cell

  1. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  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. cabinet — ministers
  2. court — of a king
  3. scale — in music
  4. prune — to trim
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. land — to come down
  7. degree — temperature
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. cabinet — a cupboard
  10. cell — a phone
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. cell — in biology
  14. game — wild animals
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. prune — to trim
  17. degree — an amount
  18. court — for sport
  19. land — a country
  20. degree — from a university
  21. game — a match
  22. scale — size or range
  23. land — ground
  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