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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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. saw — the tool
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. court — of a king
  5. fork — in a road
  6. row — a line
  7. stock — shares
  8. stock — goods
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. ground — crushed
  11. ground — the earth
  12. court — of law
  13. race — humankind
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. race — the arms race
  17. row — to paddle
  18. wind — moving air
  19. ground — a position
  20. wind — moving air
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. saw — the tool
  23. court — for sport
  24. stock — a soup base

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