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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
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: spell · race · kick · leaves · game · prune · march · court

  1. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. march — the month
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. prune — to trim
  5. court — of law
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. court — for sport
  8. leaves — to go away
  9. march — the month
  10. court — of a king
  11. leaves — of a tree
  12. game — a match
  13. race — humankind
  14. prune — to trim
  15. kick — in football
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. game — wild animals
  18. race — the arms race
  19. spell — magic
  20. spell — a short time
  21. march — music
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. leaves — lets stay
  24. race — a contest

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