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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. court — of a king
  3. row — a line
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. mine — for digging
  6. race — humankind
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. row — to paddle
  9. bowl — to roll
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. game — wild animals
  12. court — of law
  13. court — for sport
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. race — the arms race
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. cell — a phone
  19. race — a contest
  20. cell — in biology
  21. wake — a trail
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. game — a kind of play

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