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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 116 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: last · race · snap · hand · wound · net · racket · saw

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. wound — an injury
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. last — final
  7. hand — help
  8. hand — in cards
  9. net — for catching
  10. last — to go on
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. last — finally
  14. race — a contest
  15. saw — the tool
  16. saw — the tool
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. race — humankind
  19. net — after costs
  20. wound — an injury
  21. race — the arms race
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. net — in sport
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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