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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — tied together
  2. net — after costs
  3. chair — a leader
  4. rest — what's left
  5. kid — to tease
  6. net — for catching
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. rest — a break
  9. rest — what's left
  10. race — a contest
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. capital — money
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. bound — obliged
  15. race — the arms race
  16. hand — in cards
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. net — in sport
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. kid — child
  21. hand — help
  22. capital — a city
  23. bound — certain
  24. race — humankind

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