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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. race — humankind
  3. court — of a king
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. ground — the earth
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. current — electric
  8. net — after costs
  9. court — of law
  10. current — happening now
  11. race — the arms race
  12. net — in sport
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. saw — the tool
  16. ground — a position
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. saw — the tool
  19. ground — crushed
  20. race — a contest
  21. net — for catching
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. current — of water
  24. pound — a weight

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