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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. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. I've got to change the light ________________.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. The light ________________ burned out.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. bulb — of a plant
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. race — the arms race
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. drill — the tool
  7. bulb — for light
  8. fall — the season
  9. bound — certain
  10. bound — tied together
  11. bound — obliged
  12. drill — a practice
  13. fall — to drop
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. bulb — for light
  16. capital — money
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. court — of law
  19. court — of a king
  20. race — a contest
  21. capital — a city
  22. race — humankind
  23. drill — army training
  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