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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: track · bowl · race · wound · game · court · wind · spell

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. court — for sport
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. track — a path
  5. wound — an injury
  6. track — a song
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. race — the arms race
  9. track — to keep track
  10. race — a contest
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. wind — moving air
  14. race — humankind
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. spell — a short time
  17. game — a match
  18. spell — magic
  19. wound — an injury
  20. game — wild animals
  21. wind — moving air
  22. court — of law
  23. court — of a king
  24. spell — letters

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