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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. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. When was this ________________ built?
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. race — humankind
  3. fall — to drop
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. wind — moving air
  6. spring — a coil
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. fall — the season
  9. last — finally
  10. temple — side of the head
  11. last — to go on
  12. race — a contest
  13. fall — to drop
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. race — the arms race
  16. last — final
  17. court — of a king
  18. spring — the season
  19. hand — in cards
  20. spring — of water
  21. wind — moving air
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. hand — help
  24. court — of law

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