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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: race · roll · date · game · club · march · kick · court

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  21. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. race — a contest
  3. march — the month
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. club — for golf
  7. game — wild animals
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. march — the month
  11. race — humankind
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. race — the arms race
  14. court — of a king
  15. game — a match
  16. court — of law
  17. march — music
  18. date — the fruit
  19. kick — in football
  20. roll — a list
  21. roll — a cake
  22. club — a group
  23. club — for dancing
  24. roll — on a roll

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