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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: content · chair · last · net · land · arm · squash · race

  1. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. race — humankind
  3. last — to go on
  4. chair — a leader
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. land — to come down
  7. race — the arms race
  8. net — in sport
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. content — happy
  11. squash — the sport
  12. arm — a part of something
  13. net — for catching
  14. last — finally
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. squash — to crush
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. content — the amount
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. last — final
  21. land — a country
  22. net — after costs
  23. land — ground
  24. arm — part of the 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