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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: ball · bowl · season · land · degree · tear · fine · court

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  19. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  20. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  21. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. land — to come down
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. land — ground
  5. court — of law
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. degree — an amount
  8. tear — from crying
  9. fine — all right
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. ball — a dance
  12. season — in sport
  13. tear — to rip
  14. court — of a king
  15. degree — temperature
  16. land — a country
  17. tear — from crying
  18. fine — high quality
  19. fine — a penalty
  20. bowl — to roll
  21. bowl — a dish
  22. court — for sport
  23. season — of the year
  24. ball — a great time

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