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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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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: roll · degree · racket · toast · march · court · wound · tear

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. march — the month
  4. tear — from crying
  5. toast — the most admired
  6. court — of law
  7. toast — a drink to someone
  8. wound — an injury
  9. court — for sport
  10. degree — from a university
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. roll — a list
  13. court — of a king
  14. march — music
  15. degree — temperature
  16. toast — bread
  17. tear — from crying
  18. tear — to rip
  19. degree — an amount
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. roll — a cake
  24. wound — an injury

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