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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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. fall — to drop
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. content — the amount
  6. court — for sport
  7. pit — in a race
  8. content — happy
  9. race — humankind
  10. march — the month
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. fall — to drop
  13. rule — a law
  14. pit — a hole
  15. march — music
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. rule — government
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. fall — the season
  20. court — of a king
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. march — the month
  23. race — the arms race
  24. court — of law

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