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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: pit · race · tube · wind · game · kid · court · rule

  1. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. court — for sport
  3. court — of law
  4. wind — moving air
  5. wind — moving air
  6. race — humankind
  7. race — the arms race
  8. tube — the underground
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. game — wild animals
  13. kid — to tease
  14. tube — a container
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. race — a contest
  17. pit — in a race
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. rule — a law
  21. court — of a king
  22. pit — a hole
  23. kid — child
  24. game — a match

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