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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 116 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. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. squash — to crush
  4. land — a country
  5. court — for sport
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. wound — an injury
  8. race — humankind
  9. bass — the fish
  10. court — of a king
  11. court — of law
  12. land — to come down
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. race — a contest
  15. squash — the sport
  16. race — the arms race
  17. wound — an injury
  18. cap — a lid
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. cap — a hat
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. cap — of ice
  23. bass — low music
  24. land — ground

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