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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: saw · mine · last · patient · race · chest · fork · club

  1. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. race — humankind
  4. last — to go on
  5. chest — a box
  6. chest — of your body
  7. club — for dancing
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. saw — the tool
  11. mine — for digging
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. fork — in a road
  14. last — final
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. last — finally
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. club — for golf
  20. race — the arms race
  21. race — a contest
  22. chest — of your body
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. saw — the tool

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