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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. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. race — humankind
  3. can — a tin
  4. content — the amount
  5. current — happening now
  6. field — for sport
  7. can — a tin
  8. court — for sport
  9. field — a subject
  10. march — the month
  11. race — the arms race
  12. current — of water
  13. wind — moving air
  14. can — to be able to
  15. march — music
  16. race — a contest
  17. content — happy
  18. court — of a king
  19. field — farmland
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. wind — moving air
  22. march — the month
  23. current — electric
  24. content — videos and posts

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