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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: pound · chest · last · snap · cold · race

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. pound — a weight
  3. race — the arms race
  4. cold — an illness
  5. cold — not warm
  6. last — final
  7. race — humankind
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. chest — a box
  10. last — finally
  11. race — a contest
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. snap — to click
  16. chest — of your body
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. chest — of your body

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