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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 120 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: race · cold · cabinet · squash · coach · land · court · track

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. What do you think of the new ________________?
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  16. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. race — the arms race
  3. squash — to crush
  4. court — of a king
  5. cold — an illness
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. track — a song
  8. land — to come down
  9. court — for sport
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. track — to keep track
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. land — ground
  14. land — a country
  15. cabinet — a cupboard
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. race — a contest
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. cold — not warm
  21. squash — the sport
  22. race — humankind
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. track — a path

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