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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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. scale — size or range
  4. bark — to shout
  5. foot — part of the body
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. court — of law
  10. foot — the bottom
  11. court — for sport
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. tube — the underground
  15. tube — a container
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. cold — not warm
  18. foot — a measure
  19. scale — in music
  20. race — humankind
  21. court — of a king
  22. cold — an illness
  23. race — the arms race
  24. sharp — clever

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