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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: court · fall · present · hand · row · mug · race · board

  1. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  2. Where did you ________________ them?
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. board — to get on
  2. mug — to rob
  3. present — there
  4. hand — help
  5. mug — a face
  6. hand — in cards
  7. race — humankind
  8. court — of law
  9. row — to paddle
  10. court — for sport
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. present — a gift
  13. mug — a cup
  14. court — of a king
  15. fall — the season
  16. fall — to drop
  17. board — a flat piece
  18. race — the arms race
  19. board — a committee
  20. fall — to drop
  21. present — the time now
  22. race — a contest
  23. row — a line
  24. hand — part of the body

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