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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: cell · race · pound · bound · chip · court · ground · tear

  1. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  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. cell — a phone
  2. pound — a weight
  3. tear — to rip
  4. ground — crushed
  5. race — the arms race
  6. court — for sport
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. court — of a king
  9. tear — from crying
  10. bound — obliged
  11. race — a contest
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. race — humankind
  15. bound — tied together
  16. ground — a position
  17. ground — the earth
  18. chip — for betting
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. cell — in biology
  21. bound — certain
  22. court — of law
  23. chip — to eat
  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