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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: arm · field · chest · rule · file · object · net · race

  1. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. My father caught me by the ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. field — for sport
  4. object — an aim
  5. net — in sport
  6. chest — of your body
  7. object — a thing
  8. field — a subject
  9. rule — a law
  10. file — a tool
  11. rule — government
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. field — farmland
  14. chest — a box
  15. file — a line of people
  16. race — the arms race
  17. object — to protest
  18. race — a contest
  19. chest — of your body
  20. race — humankind
  21. net — after costs
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. file — a document
  24. arm — a part of something

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