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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. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. The ________________ took off on time.
  4. That was ________________ to happen.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. cap — a lid
  3. plane — an aircraft
  4. bound — certain
  5. bound — tied together
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. plane — a tool
  9. wound — an injury
  10. cap — of ice
  11. race — a contest
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. race — humankind
  14. court — of law
  15. court — of a king
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. wake — a trail
  18. cap — a hat
  19. bound — obliged
  20. wound — an injury
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. race — the arms race

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