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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.

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: degree · court · scale · track · kid · fine · kick · last

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. court — for sport
  3. track — a path
  4. track — a song
  5. court — of a king
  6. track — to keep track
  7. degree — temperature
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. scale — in music
  10. kid — child
  11. degree — an amount
  12. fine — a penalty
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. degree — from a university
  15. fine — all right
  16. kick — in football
  17. last — to go on
  18. fine — high quality
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. last — final
  21. court — of law
  22. last — finally
  23. scale — size or range
  24. kid — to tease

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