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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: jam · race · fan · rush · band · mine · net · arm

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. My father caught me by the ________________.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. Tom got himself in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. jam — to spread on bread
  3. mine — for digging
  4. jam — in traffic
  5. rush — hurry
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. net — for catching
  8. band — a ring
  9. race — the arms race
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. net — in sport
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. race — humankind
  18. band — a music group
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. race — a contest
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. rush — to hurry
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. jam — a tight spot

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