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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. pit — a hole
  3. fall — to drop
  4. court — of a king
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. game — a match
  7. court — of law
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. racket — a loud noise
  10. race — a contest
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. game — wild animals
  14. race — humankind
  15. file — a line of people
  16. fall — the season
  17. race — the arms race
  18. pit — in a race
  19. fall — to drop
  20. file — a document
  21. bass — the fish
  22. file — a tool
  23. court — for sport
  24. racket — for tennis

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