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

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. You shouldn't ________________ things.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. race — the arms race
  4. last — final
  5. tube — the underground
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. last — to go on
  8. race — humankind
  9. bark — to shout
  10. net — for catching
  11. mate — a partner
  12. last — finally
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. mate — to breed
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. net — in sport
  17. mate — a friend
  18. race — a contest
  19. chair — a leader
  20. net — after costs
  21. rush — hurry
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. tube — a container
  24. rush — to hurry

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