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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: hand · race · ball · rush · chest · row · bound · current

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. row — a line
  3. ball — a dance
  4. chest — of your body
  5. current — of water
  6. race — humankind
  7. current — electric
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. chest — of your body
  10. ball — a great time
  11. race — the arms race
  12. hand — help
  13. hand — in cards
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. bound — certain
  18. row — to paddle
  19. bound — obliged
  20. chest — a box
  21. bound — tied together
  22. race — a contest
  23. current — happening now
  24. hand — 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