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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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  14. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. cue — a hint
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. wind — moving air
  5. chest — of your body
  6. fork — in a road
  7. net — in sport
  8. wind — moving air
  9. game — a match
  10. chest — a box
  11. net — for catching
  12. race — the arms race
  13. cue — a signal
  14. cue — for pool
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. chest — of your body
  17. hand — in cards
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. game — wild animals
  20. race — humankind
  21. net — after costs
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. hand — help

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