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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 · spring · saw · fan · hand · mine · court · fine

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  9. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. race — the arms race
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. race — humankind
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. court — of law
  8. fine — high quality
  9. fine — all right
  10. hand — help
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. fine — a penalty
  15. saw — the tool
  16. court — for sport
  17. race — a contest
  18. spring — of water
  19. spring — a coil
  20. saw — the tool
  21. mine — for digging
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. hand — in cards
  24. spring — the season

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