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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. race — humankind
  3. march — the month
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. wound — an injury
  7. race — the arms race
  8. cell — in biology
  9. cell — a phone
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. march — music
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. wound — an injury
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. mark — a grade
  16. stock — shares
  17. march — the month
  18. stock — goods
  19. court — of a king
  20. race — a contest
  21. court — of law
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. mark — a trace

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