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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.

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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 · nail · pop · land · sharp · current · race

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. sharp — clever
  3. court — for sport
  4. race — the arms race
  5. fall — to drop
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. land — to come down
  10. court — of law
  11. pop — to visit
  12. pop — music
  13. land — ground
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. race — humankind
  16. race — a contest
  17. current — of water
  18. pop — soda
  19. fall — to drop
  20. fall — the season
  21. land — a country
  22. current — electric
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. current — happening now

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