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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.

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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: spell · court · hand · foot · wax · degree · sharp · pit

  1. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. spell — letters
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. hand — in cards
  5. hand — help
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. pit — a hole
  8. degree — from a university
  9. foot — the bottom
  10. court — of a king
  11. sharp — clever
  12. degree — temperature
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. court — for sport
  15. foot — a measure
  16. court — of law
  17. wax — to grow
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. pit — in a race
  20. spell — a short time
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. degree — an amount
  23. foot — part of the body
  24. spell — magic

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