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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: board · mate · race · kick · hand · band · pitcher · court

  1. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. board — to get on
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. race — a contest
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. kick — in football
  8. race — humankind
  9. court — of a king
  10. board — a flat piece
  11. hand — help
  12. band — a ring
  13. court — of law
  14. band — a music group
  15. hand — in cards
  16. board — a committee
  17. court — for sport
  18. mate — a partner
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. race — the arms race
  23. mate — to breed
  24. mate — a friend

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