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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 120 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: file · ruler · court · wind · rest · pit · ball · degree

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. ball — a great time
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. rest — what's left
  5. pit — a hole
  6. wind — moving air
  7. degree — from a university
  8. ball — a dance
  9. ruler — for measuring
  10. court — for sport
  11. file — a line of people
  12. degree — temperature
  13. file — a tool
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. file — a document
  16. court — of law
  17. ruler — a monarch
  18. rest — what's left
  19. pit — in a race
  20. rest — a break
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. wind — moving air
  24. degree — an amount

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