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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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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: court · temple · foot · degree · cold · dip · pitcher · fall

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  11. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. When was this ________________ built?

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. fall — to drop
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. cold — an illness
  10. foot — part of the body
  11. temple — side of the head
  12. degree — from a university
  13. court — for sport
  14. fall — to drop
  15. dip — to sink
  16. court — of law
  17. foot — a measure
  18. degree — temperature
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. fall — the season
  21. foot — the bottom
  22. cold — not warm
  23. degree — an amount
  24. temple — a place of worship

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