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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  14. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. chest — of your body
  3. kid — to tease
  4. race — a contest
  5. can — to be able to
  6. chest — a box
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. net — after costs
  9. can — a tin
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. kid — child
  12. net — in sport
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. ruler — a monarch
  15. chest — of your body
  16. can — a tin
  17. rash — a series
  18. race — humankind
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. race — the arms race
  24. net — for catching

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