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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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Word bank
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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: craft · chair · chest · date · race · land

  1. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. race — humankind
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. chest — of your body
  5. race — a contest
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. craft — a handicraft
  8. land — to come down
  9. race — the arms race
  10. date — the fruit
  11. chest — of your body
  12. craft — boats
  13. chest — a box
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. chair — a leader
  16. craft — a skill
  17. land — ground
  18. land — a country

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