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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 116 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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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 · snap · cold · pit · pop · craft · bay · court

  1. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. My mare is ________________ in color.
  20. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. cold — an illness
  3. snap — to click
  4. craft — a handicraft
  5. race — humankind
  6. court — of a king
  7. race — a contest
  8. pop — to visit
  9. court — of law
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. bay — to keep at bay
  14. race — the arms race
  15. cold — not warm
  16. craft — a skill
  17. pop — soda
  18. pit — a hole
  19. bay — a horse colour
  20. bay — a part of the sea
  21. pit — in a race
  22. court — for sport
  23. craft — boats
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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