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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
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: pop · bowl · rash · hand · degree · file · drill · court

  1. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. court — for sport
  3. file — a document
  4. degree — temperature
  5. hand — help
  6. bowl — a football final
  7. court — of a king
  8. pop — soda
  9. rash — hasty
  10. rash — a series
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. file — a tool
  13. court — of law
  14. degree — from a university
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. drill — a practice
  17. file — a line of people
  18. drill — the tool
  19. pop — to visit
  20. degree — an amount
  21. pop — music
  22. drill — army training
  23. hand — in cards
  24. bowl — a dish

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