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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.

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: fine · firm · content · degree · scale · court · fan · sharp

  1. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  2. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  5. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — a company
  2. firm — steady
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. fine — a penalty
  5. firm — decided
  6. sharp — clever
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. court — of law
  11. court — for sport
  12. scale — in music
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. fine — all right
  15. degree — an amount
  16. content — happy
  17. degree — temperature
  18. content — the amount
  19. court — of a king
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. degree — from a university
  22. scale — size or range
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. fine — high quality

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