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

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. When was this ________________ built?
  8. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. fork — in a road
  3. race — humankind
  4. court — of a king
  5. court — for sport
  6. race — the arms race
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. spring — of water
  10. cold — not warm
  11. race — a contest
  12. spring — the season
  13. court — of law
  14. temple — side of the head
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. spring — a coil

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