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

Word bank: craft · chest · race · rest · club · deal

  1. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  2. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. craft — a handicraft
  3. race — a contest
  4. club — for golf
  5. race — the arms race
  6. chest — of your body
  7. rest — what's left
  8. club — for dancing
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. race — humankind
  11. chest — of your body
  12. craft — boats
  13. chest — a box
  14. club — a group
  15. craft — a skill
  16. rest — what's left
  17. deal — to handle
  18. rest — a break

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