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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: net · fan · rest · deal · race · mate · mine · tear

  1. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. tear — from crying
  3. deal — an agreement
  4. tear — to rip
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. tear — from crying
  7. net — after costs
  8. mine — for digging
  9. race — a contest
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. race — the arms race
  12. deal — to handle
  13. net — for catching
  14. rest — what's left
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. deal — a big deal
  17. rest — a break
  18. mate — a friend
  19. mate — a partner
  20. rest — what's left
  21. mate — to breed
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. net — in sport
  24. race — humankind

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