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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.

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: hand · ball · spring · court · object · key · squash · degree

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. This piece is in a major ________________.
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  15. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. degree — an amount
  3. court — of law
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. key — in music
  6. object — to protest
  7. ball — a dance
  8. spring — a coil
  9. spring — of water
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. squash — to crush
  12. key — for a lock
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. key — the most important part
  15. object — a thing
  16. ball — a great time
  17. hand — help
  18. object — an aim
  19. court — of a king
  20. degree — temperature
  21. degree — from a university
  22. squash — the sport
  23. hand — in cards
  24. spring — the season

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