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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 120 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: staff · can · kid · saw · court · degree · cabinet · ground

  1. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  16. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  17. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. staff — employees
  3. court — for sport
  4. court — of a king
  5. saw — the tool
  6. kid — to tease
  7. can — a tin
  8. degree — temperature
  9. ground — a position
  10. kid — child
  11. court — of law
  12. saw — the tool
  13. staff — a stick
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. can — a tin
  16. cabinet — a cupboard
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. degree — from a university
  19. ground — crushed
  20. degree — an amount
  21. staff — employees
  22. can — to be able to
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. ground — the earth

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