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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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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: land · cue · race · spring · mine · rush · ball · rule

  1. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. Take your time. There's no ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. cue — a hint
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. mine — for digging
  6. cue — a signal
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. land — to come down
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. rule — a law
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. race — humankind
  13. race — a contest
  14. rule — government
  15. ball — a great time
  16. land — ground
  17. cue — for pool
  18. race — the arms race
  19. land — a country
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. spring — of water
  22. spring — a coil
  23. spring — the season
  24. rush — hurry

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