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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: degree · court · mark · land · leaves · cue · race · mine

  1. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  13. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  16. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. court — of a king
  3. race — a contest
  4. court — of law
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. land — to come down
  7. race — humankind
  8. mine — for digging
  9. degree — temperature
  10. leaves — lets stay
  11. mark — a grade
  12. mark — a trace
  13. cue — a signal
  14. land — a country
  15. leaves — of a tree
  16. cue — for pool
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. court — for sport
  19. degree — from a university
  20. degree — an amount
  21. cue — a hint
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. land — ground
  24. race — the arms race

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