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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 · race · pound · saw · tear · season · mouse · trunk

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  23. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. tear — from crying
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. tear — from crying
  6. tear — to rip
  7. pound — a weight
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. season — of the year
  12. race — the arms race
  13. saw — the tool
  14. saw — the tool
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. race — a contest
  17. court — for sport
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. race — humankind
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. court — of law
  22. mouse — for a computer
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. season — in sport

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