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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. scale — size or range
  4. court — of a king
  5. rash — a series
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. rash — hasty
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. race — a contest
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. court — of law
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. court — for sport
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. race — the arms race
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. scale — in music
  21. game — wild animals
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. race — humankind

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