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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: rule · present · sharp · hand · court · mine · race · prune

  1. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. rule — government
  3. sharp — clever
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. race — humankind
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. present — a gift
  8. race — the arms race
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. hand — help
  11. present — the time now
  12. race — a contest
  13. mine — for digging
  14. prune — to trim
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. court — for sport
  18. present — there
  19. court — of law
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. court — of a king
  22. prune — to trim
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. hand — in cards

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