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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: rest · stock · mine · stick · race · chest · chair · last

  1. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. stock — goods
  3. last — final
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. rest — a break
  6. stick — to attach or keep to
  7. chair — a leader
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. chest — a box
  10. last — to go on
  11. rest — what's left
  12. last — finally
  13. mine — for digging
  14. race — the arms race
  15. stock — shares
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. chest — of your body
  19. rest — what's left
  20. chest — of your body
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. race — a contest

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