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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 116 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: hand · hide · wound · rush · chair · bark · stock · race

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. race — humankind
  4. rush — hurry
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. wound — an injury
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. chair — a leader
  14. bark — to shout
  15. race — the arms race
  16. wound — an injury
  17. stock — shares
  18. hand — in cards
  19. race — a contest
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. stock — goods
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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