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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 116 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
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: chair · degree · prune · wake · mine · fine · court · march

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. prune — to trim
  3. fine — high quality
  4. wake — a trail
  5. mine — for digging
  6. march — the month
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. march — the month
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. prune — to trim
  11. court — of a king
  12. degree — an amount
  13. chair — a leader
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. court — of law
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. fine — all right
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. march — music
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. court — for sport
  24. degree — temperature

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