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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  5. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  6. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. march — the month
  3. march — music
  4. calf — of the leg
  5. can — a tin
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. chest — of your body
  8. court — of law
  9. race — humankind
  10. ground — a position
  11. game — wild animals
  12. chest — of your body
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. can — to be able to
  15. court — for sport
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. march — the month
  18. ground — the earth
  19. chest — a box
  20. game — a match
  21. court — of a king
  22. ground — crushed
  23. can — a tin
  24. race — the arms race

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