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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  5. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. land — ground
  3. roll — a cake
  4. bank — for money
  5. bank — for money
  6. land — to come down
  7. roll — a list
  8. mine — for digging
  9. land — a country
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. race — humankind
  12. race — the arms race
  13. court — for sport
  14. court — of law
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. race — a contest
  20. bat — the animal
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. bank — of a river
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. mine — an explosive

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