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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.

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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  11. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. court — for sport
  3. court — of law
  4. rest — a break
  5. root — of a word
  6. rest — what's left
  7. fall — to drop
  8. bass — the fish
  9. race — a contest
  10. root — the cause
  11. lie — to recline
  12. fall — to drop
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. court — of a king
  16. root — of a plant
  17. fall — the season
  18. rest — what's left
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. race — humankind
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. race — the arms race

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