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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: ruler · tear · bat · race · court · net

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. bat — the animal
  3. ruler — for measuring
  4. court — for sport
  5. tear — from crying
  6. race — the arms race
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. tear — from crying
  10. race — humankind
  11. ruler — a monarch
  12. net — for catching
  13. court — of a king
  14. tear — to rip
  15. net — after costs
  16. net — in sport
  17. ruler — for measuring
  18. race — a contest

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