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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 116 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.

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: object · bark · season · tear · cell · degree · court · mine

  1. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  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. object — an aim
  2. cell — in biology
  3. court — for sport
  4. tear — to rip
  5. cell — a phone
  6. court — of law
  7. court — of a king
  8. season — of the year
  9. season — in sport
  10. degree — temperature
  11. bark — to shout
  12. object — to protest
  13. tear — from crying
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. degree — an amount
  16. object — a thing
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. tear — from crying
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. degree — from a university
  22. mine — for digging
  23. cell — in a prison
  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