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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. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — steady
  2. rush — hurry
  3. race — the arms race
  4. chest — a box
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. race — a contest
  7. race — humankind
  8. bound — tied together
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. bound — certain
  11. chest — of your body
  12. net — for catching
  13. bound — obliged
  14. fork — in a road
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. firm — decided
  17. scale — size or range
  18. chest — of your body
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. net — in sport
  21. scale — in music
  22. net — after costs
  23. firm — a company
  24. scale — for weighing

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