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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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Word bank
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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: rule · wound · court · lean · drill · season · race · hand

  1. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. wound — an injury
  3. lean — to bend
  4. season — of the year
  5. rule — a law
  6. court — of a king
  7. hand — help
  8. court — for sport
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. race — a contest
  11. race — the arms race
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. race — humankind
  14. drill — a practice
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. rule — government
  17. hand — in cards
  18. lean — thin
  19. court — of law
  20. drill — the tool
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. wound — an injury
  23. season — in sport
  24. drill — army training

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