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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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. This piece is in a major ________________.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. Hard work is the ________________ to success.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. shower — to wash
  3. court — of law
  4. fine — high quality
  5. race — the arms race
  6. key — in music
  7. court — for sport
  8. fine — a penalty
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. court — of a king
  12. plane — a tool
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. shower — rain
  16. root — the cause
  17. root — of a word
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. race — a contest
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. key — for a lock
  22. race — humankind
  23. root — of a plant
  24. key — the most important part

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