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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  22. When will it ________________ you to start?
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. court — of law
  3. club — a group
  4. race — humankind
  5. cold — not warm
  6. pass — a permit
  7. race — the arms race
  8. club — for dancing
  9. last — to go on
  10. pass — to succeed
  11. court — of a king
  12. suit — clothes
  13. court — for sport
  14. club — for golf
  15. race — a contest
  16. land — a country
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. suit — in cards
  19. land — to come down
  20. cold — an illness
  21. pass — to spend time
  22. suit — to fit
  23. land — ground
  24. last — finally

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