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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: toast · ball · court · bass · branch · race · cold · date

  1. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. Have you settled on a ________________?
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. race — the arms race
  3. court — of a king
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. toast — the most admired
  6. branch — a division
  7. race — a contest
  8. cold — not warm
  9. date — the fruit
  10. ball — a dance
  11. race — humankind
  12. bass — the fish
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. cold — an illness
  15. bass — low music
  16. toast — a drink to someone
  17. court — of law
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. ball — a great time
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. court — for sport
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. bass — the instrument

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