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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: last · court · leaves · cold · swing · sharp · bound · race

  1. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — of a tree
  2. last — to go on
  3. swing — to play on
  4. leaves — lets stay
  5. race — humankind
  6. cold — not warm
  7. cold — an illness
  8. bound — certain
  9. race — the arms race
  10. last — finally
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. race — a contest
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. court — of law
  15. court — of a king
  16. swing — music
  17. bound — obliged
  18. sharp — clever
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. court — for sport
  21. swing — in golf
  22. leaves — to go away
  23. last — final
  24. bound — tied together

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