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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 120 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 · fan · lash · court · rule · present · wound · pound

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. race — humankind
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. rule — a law
  6. lash — an eyelash
  7. court — for sport
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. race — a contest
  10. rule — government
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. present — a gift
  13. court — of law
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. court — of a king
  16. pound — a weight
  17. lash — to lash out
  18. present — the time now
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. race — the arms race
  22. present — there
  23. wound — an injury
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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