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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: tear · ball · cold · court · stem · plane · band · race

  1. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. stem — to come from
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. cold — not warm
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. tear — from crying
  7. court — of a king
  8. court — of law
  9. band — a music group
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. race — humankind
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. ball — a great time
  15. band — a ring
  16. tear — to rip
  17. race — the arms race
  18. court — for sport
  19. plane — a tool
  20. cold — an illness
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. race — a contest
  24. tear — from crying

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