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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: rest · wind · court · wake · sharp · degree · march · craft

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. court — of a king
  3. wake — a trail
  4. craft — boats
  5. craft — a handicraft
  6. degree — temperature
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. sharp — clever
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. rest — a break
  11. wind — moving air
  12. march — the month
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. wind — moving air
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. degree — an amount
  17. degree — from a university
  18. court — for sport
  19. march — music
  20. rest — what's left
  21. craft — a skill
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. rest — what's left
  24. march — the month

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