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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. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  19. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  20. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. race — a contest
  3. court — for sport
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. scale — size or range
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. game — a match
  8. spring — a coil
  9. spring — the season
  10. court — of law
  11. scale — in music
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. staff — a stick
  14. spring — of water
  15. court — of a king
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. staff — employees
  20. staff — employees
  21. bark — to shout
  22. race — the arms race
  23. game — wild animals
  24. race — humankind

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