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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. rash — hasty
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. rash — a series
  5. race — humankind
  6. court — of law
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. ground — the earth
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. race — the arms race
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. prune — to trim
  13. cell — in biology
  14. ground — crushed
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. court — of a king
  17. season — in sport
  18. ground — a position
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. race — a contest
  21. mine — for digging
  22. season — of the year
  23. cell — a phone
  24. court — for sport

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