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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: field · net · game · arm · tear · race · hand · cabinet

  1. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. What do you think of the new ________________?
  17. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. net — for catching
  4. arm — a part of something
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. field — farmland
  7. race — the arms race
  8. tear — from crying
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. tear — from crying
  11. net — after costs
  12. race — humankind
  13. hand — help
  14. race — a contest
  15. field — a subject
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. cabinet — a cupboard
  18. game — a match
  19. game — wild animals
  20. hand — in cards
  21. tear — to rip
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. field — for sport

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