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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. court — of a king
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. bear — the animal
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. race — a contest
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. kid — to tease
  12. court — for sport
  13. race — humankind
  14. bear — the animal
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. capital — money
  17. race — the arms race
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. court — of law
  22. bear — to put up with
  23. date — the fruit
  24. capital — a city

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