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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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. court — of a king
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. net — in sport
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. race — humankind
  7. net — for catching
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. branch — a division
  10. squash — the sport
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. bowl — a dish
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. race — a contest
  16. mate — a partner
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. net — after costs
  19. race — the arms race
  20. court — for sport
  21. mate — a friend
  22. court — of law
  23. plane — a tool
  24. squash — to crush

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