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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.

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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: fan · hand · rash · wound · tube · bay · court · degree

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. My mare is ________________ in color.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  13. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  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 — of law
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. wound — an injury
  5. bay — a horse colour
  6. wound — an injury
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. tube — a container
  9. hand — help
  10. court — of a king
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. bay — a part of the sea
  13. bay — to keep at bay
  14. court — for sport
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. hand — in cards
  17. rash — a series
  18. degree — temperature
  19. degree — from a university
  20. degree — an amount
  21. tube — the underground
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. rash — hasty
  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