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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 120 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: last · cue · chest · chip · race · net · band · rule

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  6. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. net — after costs
  3. last — finally
  4. net — for catching
  5. cue — a signal
  6. cue — a hint
  7. race — the arms race
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. chest — of your body
  10. chip — to eat
  11. race — a contest
  12. net — in sport
  13. band — a ring
  14. rule — government
  15. chest — of your body
  16. last — to go on
  17. last — final
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. cue — for pool
  21. race — humankind
  22. rule — a law
  23. chip — for betting
  24. chest — a box

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