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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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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 · track · rest · mouse · chest · rule · race · pound

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  5. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. rest — what's left
  4. mouse — for a computer
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. race — humankind
  7. chest — of your body
  8. rule — a law
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. track — to keep track
  11. chest — a box
  12. track — a song
  13. track — a path
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. rule — government
  16. pound — a weight
  17. hand — in cards
  18. chest — of your body
  19. race — a contest
  20. race — the arms race
  21. rest — a break
  22. rest — what's left
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. pound — to hit hard

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