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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: hide · rash · race · kid · court · fork · last · game

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  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. court — of law
  2. rash — hasty
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. game — wild animals
  5. last — finally
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. race — humankind
  8. court — for sport
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. race — a contest
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. last — to go on
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. kid — child
  17. fork — in a road
  18. last — final
  19. rash — a series
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. kid — to tease
  22. game — a match
  23. court — of a king
  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