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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.

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: court · cabinet · craft · degree · fan · land · wind · pop

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. craft — a handicraft
  4. land — ground
  5. pop — soda
  6. land — a country
  7. court — of a king
  8. cabinet — a cupboard
  9. wind — moving air
  10. degree — temperature
  11. land — to come down
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. craft — a skill
  14. pop — music
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. degree — from a university
  17. craft — boats
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. court — of law
  20. degree — an amount
  21. pop — to visit
  22. wind — moving air
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. fan — a supporter

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