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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 ball is in your ________________.
  2. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  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. court — for sport
  2. lie — to recline
  3. tube — a container
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. tear — from crying
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. track — to keep track
  8. tube — the underground
  9. court — of law
  10. track — a path
  11. tear — to rip
  12. march — the month
  13. march — music
  14. tear — from crying
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. march — the month
  17. race — the arms race
  18. court — of a king
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. sharp — clever
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. race — a contest
  23. track — a song
  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