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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. rule — a law
  3. mate — to breed
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. mate — a friend
  7. court — for sport
  8. wound — an injury
  9. wound — an injury
  10. race — humankind
  11. court — of law
  12. rash — hasty
  13. mate — a partner
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. rash — a series
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. rule — government
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. bowl — a dish
  21. race — a contest
  22. race — the arms race
  23. court — of a king
  24. bowl — a football final

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