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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 116 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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: bowl · can · pitcher · land · court · race · cold · ruler

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  7. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  19. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  20. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. race — a contest
  3. court — for sport
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. bowl — a football final
  7. ruler — a monarch
  8. court — of law
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. land — a country
  11. race — the arms race
  12. can — to be able to
  13. cold — not warm
  14. land — ground
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. land — to come down
  17. race — humankind
  18. ruler — for measuring
  19. bowl — a dish
  20. can — a tin
  21. court — of a king
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. can — a tin

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