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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: cold · spell · jam · drill · court · race · rash · wound

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. jam — in traffic
  3. wound — an injury
  4. race — humankind
  5. court — for sport
  6. court — of law
  7. cold — not warm
  8. spell — letters
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. spell — magic
  11. race — the arms race
  12. jam — a tight spot
  13. drill — a practice
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. court — of a king
  16. jam — to spread on bread
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. rash — hasty
  19. spell — a short time
  20. wound — an injury
  21. drill — army training
  22. rash — a series
  23. race — a contest
  24. drill — the tool

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