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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: board · key · net · mine · jam · cold · last · race

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  9. This piece is in a major ________________.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  18. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  19. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. net — in sport
  3. last — finally
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. board — to get on
  6. cold — not warm
  7. race — humankind
  8. jam — to spread on bread
  9. key — in music
  10. key — the most important part
  11. jam — a tight spot
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. last — final
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. net — after costs
  16. cold — an illness
  17. board — a flat piece
  18. jam — in traffic
  19. board — a committee
  20. race — a contest
  21. race — the arms race
  22. mine — for digging
  23. key — for a lock
  24. net — for catching

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