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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: stock · land · race · bore · court · cap · fall · cell

  1. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  20. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. cap — of ice
  3. court — of law
  4. land — ground
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. cap — a hat
  7. race — the arms race
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. court — of a king
  10. court — for sport
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. stock — goods
  13. race — a contest
  14. cell — in biology
  15. cap — a lid
  16. cell — a phone
  17. land — a country
  18. stock — shares
  19. bore — to drill
  20. bore — to tire
  21. land — to come down
  22. fall — to drop
  23. fall — to drop
  24. fall — the season

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