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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: bay · degree · ground · court · wind · clip · stock · leaves

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  8. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  9. My mare is ________________ in color.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  21. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. clip — to cut
  3. ground — the earth
  4. degree — temperature
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. wind — moving air
  7. bay — a part of the sea
  8. leaves — to go away
  9. bay — a horse colour
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. degree — from a university
  12. clip — for paper
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. stock — shares
  15. clip — a video
  16. ground — crushed
  17. court — for sport
  18. stock — goods
  19. ground — a position
  20. leaves — of a tree
  21. bay — to keep at bay
  22. degree — an amount
  23. court — of a king
  24. wind — moving air

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