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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
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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: degree · spell · court · shower · game · band · chair · can

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. game — wild animals
  3. game — a match
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. shower — to wash
  7. degree — from a university
  8. degree — an amount
  9. degree — temperature
  10. band — a ring
  11. can — a tin
  12. spell — letters
  13. spell — a short time
  14. can — to be able to
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. spell — magic
  18. band — a music group
  19. court — of a king
  20. court — for sport
  21. shower — rain
  22. court — of law
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. can — a tin

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