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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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. pop — music
  3. race — a contest
  4. plane — a tool
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. pop — soda
  8. track — a path
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. court — for sport
  11. pop — to visit
  12. shower — to wash
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. court — of a king
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. shower — rain
  18. court — of law
  19. cold — not warm
  20. cold — an illness
  21. race — humankind
  22. race — the arms race
  23. track — to keep track
  24. coach — a trainer

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