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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. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. This piece is in a major ________________.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  19. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  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. ball — a round shape
  2. ball — a dance
  3. last — to go on
  4. last — finally
  5. ball — a great time
  6. key — in music
  7. mine — for digging
  8. wake — a trail
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. last — final
  11. court — of law
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. hand — help
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. race — a contest
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. key — the most important part
  19. key — for a lock
  20. hand — in cards
  21. court — for sport
  22. court — of a king
  23. race — the arms race
  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