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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: season · key · fall · court · straw · bound · race · cap

  1. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. That was ________________ to happen.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. court — of a king
  4. bound — certain
  5. cap — a lid
  6. fall — to drop
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. key — for a lock
  9. cap — of ice
  10. race — humankind
  11. court — of law
  12. race — the arms race
  13. bound — obliged
  14. season — of the year
  15. key — in music
  16. key — the most important part
  17. court — for sport
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. fall — the season
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. fall — to drop
  22. season — in sport
  23. cap — a hat
  24. bound — tied together

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