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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 King held a masked ________________.
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. That was ________________ to happen.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. season — in sport
  3. land — a country
  4. bound — certain
  5. bound — tied together
  6. race — a contest
  7. chip — to eat
  8. land — to come down
  9. land — ground
  10. cold — not warm
  11. race — the arms race
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. race — humankind
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. chip — for betting
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. ball — a great time
  18. court — for sport
  19. cold — an illness
  20. court — of law
  21. bound — obliged
  22. court — of a king
  23. season — of the year
  24. cold — the Cold War

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