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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: court · rule · race · fall · lash · spell · toast · net

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  21. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. rule — government
  3. court — for sport
  4. net — for catching
  5. fall — the season
  6. spell — magic
  7. spell — letters
  8. lash — to lash out
  9. court — of law
  10. race — a contest
  11. spell — a short time
  12. race — humankind
  13. fall — to drop
  14. race — the arms race
  15. fall — to drop
  16. toast — the most admired
  17. net — in sport
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. rule — a law
  20. toast — a drink to someone
  21. lash — a whip stroke
  22. court — of a king
  23. toast — bread
  24. lash — an eyelash

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