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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 ball is in your ________________.
  2. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. mouse — for a computer
  3. race — humankind
  4. wound — an injury
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. shower — rain
  7. spell — magic
  8. race — the arms race
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. shower — to wash
  13. court — of a king
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. spell — a short time
  16. spell — letters
  17. wound — an injury
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. race — a contest
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. court — of law
  24. kick — in football

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