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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 116 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 ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  11. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. spring — the season
  3. last — final
  4. race — a contest
  5. spring — of water
  6. spring — a coil
  7. vault — an arched ceiling
  8. race — the arms race
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. vault — a safe
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. game — wild animals
  13. vault — in gymnastics
  14. last — to go on
  15. last — finally
  16. racket — a loud noise
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. court — for sport
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. court — of a king
  23. game — a match
  24. race — humankind

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