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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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. court — for sport
  3. race — a contest
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. bound — obliged
  6. rash — hasty
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. court — of a king
  9. bound — certain
  10. race — humankind
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. bear — the animal
  13. wound — an injury
  14. bound — tied together
  15. race — the arms race
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. fork — in a road
  18. bear — the animal
  19. court — of law
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. rash — a series
  22. wound — an injury
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. stem — of a plant

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