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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 120 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 · snap · rash · race · squash · track · mine · ground

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. race — the arms race
  3. race — humankind
  4. rash — hasty
  5. squash — the sport
  6. ground — crushed
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. ground — the earth
  10. court — for sport
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. court — of a king
  13. ground — a position
  14. squash — to crush
  15. court — of law
  16. track — a path
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. track — to keep track
  19. track — a song
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. race — a contest
  22. mine — for digging
  23. rash — a series
  24. snap — to click

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