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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: march · current · fall · season · kid · degree · stick · court

  1. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  2. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  3. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  18. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. current — happening now
  2. current — electric
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. march — the month
  5. degree — an amount
  6. kid — child
  7. fall — to drop
  8. fall — to drop
  9. court — of a king
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. court — for sport
  12. fall — the season
  13. march — the month
  14. season — in sport
  15. kid — to tease
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. stick — to attach or keep to
  19. march — music
  20. degree — temperature
  21. current — of water
  22. season — of the year
  23. court — of law
  24. degree — from a university

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