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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: court · hide · squash · race · tear · perch

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. squash — the sport
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. court — of a king
  5. tear — from crying
  6. perch — the fish
  7. tear — from crying
  8. race — a contest
  9. squash — to crush
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. court — for sport
  12. tear — to rip
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. race — humankind
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. race — the arms race
  18. perch — for a bird

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