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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. race — humankind
  4. rock — to move gently
  5. spell — letters
  6. row — a line
  7. spell — magic
  8. kid — child
  9. spell — a short time
  10. ground — a position
  11. rock — a stone
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. rock — music
  14. ground — the earth
  15. row — to paddle
  16. race — a contest
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. race — the arms race
  20. court — of law
  21. kid — to tease
  22. ground — crushed
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. court — of a king

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