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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.

Make a worksheet

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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. ball — a dance
  3. cold — an illness
  4. race — humankind
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. court — for sport
  7. court — of a king
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. race — a contest
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. cold — not warm
  13. ball — a great time
  14. mine — for digging
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. chair — a leader
  17. court — of law
  18. cold — the Cold War

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