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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. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. Where did you ________________ them?
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. hand — help
  3. chest — of your body
  4. chest — of your body
  5. mug — a face
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. net — in sport
  11. race — humankind
  12. kid — to tease
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. mug — a cup
  15. net — for catching
  16. plane — in geometry
  17. chest — a box
  18. hand — in cards
  19. kid — child
  20. pitch — completely
  21. net — after costs
  22. race — a contest
  23. mug — to rob
  24. plane — a tool

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