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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: race · bowl · pop · mine · sharp · chest · suit · hand

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. When will it ________________ you to start?
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. chest — of your body
  3. pop — soda
  4. suit — in cards
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. suit — clothes
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. sharp — clever
  9. race — humankind
  10. pop — music
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. hand — help
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. race — a contest
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. hand — in cards
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. chest — a box
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. pop — to visit
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. race — the arms race
  23. suit — to fit
  24. mine — for digging

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