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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.

Make a worksheet

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
468
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: racket · object · game · degree · land · cold · press · court

  1. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. object — an aim
  2. game — a match
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. press — to push
  5. object — a thing
  6. object — to protest
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. degree — temperature
  9. press — newspapers
  10. court — for sport
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. cold — not warm
  13. cold — an illness
  14. degree — from a university
  15. land — to come down
  16. press — a publisher
  17. degree — an amount
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. court — of law
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. court — of a king
  22. land — ground
  23. game — wild animals
  24. land — a country

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