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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. race — the arms race
  4. race — a contest
  5. scale — size or range
  6. fall — the season
  7. clip — a video
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. fall — to drop
  10. court — of law
  11. squash — the sport
  12. fall — to drop
  13. wave — of the sea
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. court — of a king
  17. squash — to crush
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. wave — with your hand
  20. clip — for paper
  21. clip — to cut
  22. race — humankind
  23. scale — in music
  24. wave — a sudden rise

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