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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: band · cold · calf · chip · race · court · track · roll

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. We're on a ________________ here.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  23. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. roll — a list
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. roll — on a roll
  5. race — humankind
  6. court — of a king
  7. track — to keep track
  8. cold — not warm
  9. race — the arms race
  10. roll — a cake
  11. court — of law
  12. track — a song
  13. cold — an illness
  14. race — a contest
  15. chip — for betting
  16. track — a path
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. chip — to eat
  20. band — a music group
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. calf — of the leg
  24. band — a ring

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