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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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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 · game · bound · court · field · fork · mug · deal

  1. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  2. Where did you ________________ them?
  3. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. mug — to rob
  3. deal — to handle
  4. degree — from a university
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. court — of a king
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. game — a match
  9. field — for sport
  10. degree — an amount
  11. bound — tied together
  12. court — for sport
  13. bound — obliged
  14. fork — in a road
  15. degree — temperature
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. mug — a face
  18. bound — certain
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. mug — a cup
  21. court — of law
  22. field — a subject
  23. field — farmland
  24. game — wild animals

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