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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. court — of a king
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. fall — to drop
  6. race — the arms race
  7. court — of law
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. hand — in cards
  10. race — a contest
  11. land — to come down
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. race — humankind
  14. fall — the season
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. stem — to come from
  18. court — for sport
  19. land — a country
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. fork — in a road
  23. land — ground
  24. fall — to drop

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