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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: net · rule · race · coach · fork · kid

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. net — after costs
  3. race — humankind
  4. kid — to tease
  5. fork — in a road
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. race — the arms race
  9. kid — child
  10. net — for catching
  11. net — in sport
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. race — a contest
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. rule — government
  16. rule — a law
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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