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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. race — humankind
  3. leaves — lets stay
  4. face — to confront
  5. content — happy
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. court — of law
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. march — the month
  11. leaves — to go away
  12. race — the arms race
  13. face — part of the head
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. march — the month
  16. stem — to come from
  17. court — for sport
  18. face — to point toward
  19. race — a contest
  20. branch — a division
  21. march — music
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. content — the amount

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