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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 116 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. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  11. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. fork — in a road
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. kick — in football
  6. race — a contest
  7. race — humankind
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. board — a flat piece
  11. board — a committee
  12. hand — help
  13. hand — in cards
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. court — for sport
  17. board — to get on
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. wound — an injury
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. perch — the fish
  22. court — of law
  23. race — the arms race
  24. wound — an injury

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