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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. When was this ________________ built?
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. prune — to trim
  3. temple — side of the head
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. hand — help
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. hand — in cards
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. row — to paddle
  14. court — of law
  15. court — of a king
  16. prune — to trim
  17. race — the arms race
  18. kid — child
  19. race — a contest
  20. race — humankind
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. kid — to tease
  24. row — a line

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