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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: race · snap · wound · can · cold · net · ruler · mark

  1. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  16. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. can — a tin
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. cold — not warm
  5. snap — to click
  6. net — after costs
  7. net — in sport
  8. mark — a trace
  9. mark — a grade
  10. race — a contest
  11. can — to be able to
  12. wound — an injury
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. cold — an illness
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. can — a tin
  17. wound — an injury
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. race — humankind
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. ruler — a monarch
  23. net — for catching
  24. ruler — for measuring

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