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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 120 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 pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. court — for sport
  3. bore — to drill
  4. race — humankind
  5. mate — to breed
  6. bore — gave birth
  7. game — a match
  8. cold — an illness
  9. race — a contest
  10. court — of law
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. land — ground
  13. key — the most important part
  14. cold — not warm
  15. land — to come down
  16. mate — a partner
  17. mate — a friend
  18. key — in music
  19. court — of a king
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. land — a country
  22. bore — to tire
  23. race — the arms race
  24. key — for a lock

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