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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: kid · board · cold · trunk · key · race · rest · court

  1. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. This piece is in a major ________________.
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. board — to get on
  2. kid — child
  3. board — a committee
  4. court — of law
  5. key — the most important part
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. court — of a king
  8. key — in music
  9. rest — what's left
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. key — for a lock
  12. race — humankind
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. kid — to tease
  16. rest — what's left
  17. cold — an illness
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. rest — a break
  20. race — a contest
  21. cold — not warm
  22. court — for sport
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. race — the arms race

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