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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: cold · track · bulb · degree · cell · calf · court · bore

  1. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. The light ________________ burned out.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. I've got to change the light ________________.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. court — of a king
  3. cold — not warm
  4. degree — temperature
  5. track — a song
  6. track — a path
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. cell — a phone
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. cold — an illness
  13. calf — of the leg
  14. cell — in biology
  15. bore — to drill
  16. degree — an amount
  17. track — to keep track
  18. degree — from a university
  19. court — for sport
  20. bulb — for light
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. bulb — for light
  23. court — of law
  24. bulb — of a plant

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