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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  5. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. Where did you ________________ them?
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  15. I can't ________________ this cold.
  16. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  19. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. court — of law
  4. jam — to spread on bread
  5. jam — in traffic
  6. race — humankind
  7. land — to come down
  8. mug — to rob
  9. land — a country
  10. race — the arms race
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. mug — a cup
  13. cell — a phone
  14. stand — on your feet
  15. stand — to bear
  16. jam — a tight spot
  17. land — ground
  18. stand — for spectators
  19. mug — a face
  20. court — of a king
  21. cold — not warm
  22. cold — an illness
  23. cell — in biology
  24. race — a contest

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