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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
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: mug · season · court · mine · snap · degree · coach · root

  1. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. Where did you ________________ them?
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. snap — to click
  4. mine — for digging
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. season — of the year
  7. court — of a king
  8. root — of a plant
  9. mug — a face
  10. court — for sport
  11. mug — a cup
  12. court — of law
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. mug — to rob
  15. degree — from a university
  16. degree — an amount
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. root — the cause
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. degree — temperature
  21. root — of a word
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. season — in sport
  24. mine — belonging to me

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