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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 · stem · wind · cap · kick · court

  1. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. cap — a lid
  3. stem — to come from
  4. kick — in football
  5. race — humankind
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. court — of law
  8. wind — moving air
  9. race — a contest
  10. court — for sport
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. cap — of ice
  13. court — of a king
  14. cap — a hat
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. wind — moving air
  18. wind — to turn a key

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