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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 · vault · race · clip · ruler · kick · cold · chip

  1. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  10. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  11. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  12. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. court — of law
  3. race — humankind
  4. vault — a safe
  5. court — of a king
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. clip — for paper
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. ruler — a monarch
  10. ruler — for measuring
  11. vault — in gymnastics
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. vault — an arched ceiling
  15. cold — an illness
  16. chip — for betting
  17. clip — a video
  18. clip — to cut
  19. court — for sport
  20. chip — to eat
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. race — the arms race
  23. kick — in football
  24. cold — not warm

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