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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. This piece is in a major ________________.
  10. That must've been a ________________.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. net — for catching
  3. net — after costs
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. hand — in cards
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. chair — a leader
  9. key — in music
  10. rush — a thrill
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. hand — help
  13. key — the most important part
  14. race — the arms race
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. net — in sport
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. snap — to click
  19. key — for a lock
  20. race — humankind
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. race — a contest
  23. stem — to come from
  24. stem — of a plant

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