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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: land · rush · chair · track · cell · game · racket · net

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. cell — a phone
  4. track — a song
  5. net — in sport
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. track — a path
  9. net — after costs
  10. land — ground
  11. track — to keep track
  12. rush — hurry
  13. game — wild animals
  14. land — a country
  15. game — a match
  16. cell — in biology
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. land — to come down
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. net — for catching
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. chair — a professorship

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