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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: race · court · board · wind · kid · bay

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. My mare is ________________ in color.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. board — a flat piece
  3. kid — to tease
  4. bay — to keep at bay
  5. court — for sport
  6. court — of a king
  7. board — to get on
  8. court — of law
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. bay — a horse colour
  11. race — a contest
  12. race — humankind
  13. board — a committee
  14. race — the arms race
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. kid — child
  17. wind — moving air
  18. bay — a part of the sea

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