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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: kick · race · firm · chest · net · object · content · cap

  1. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  19. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  24. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. cap — a lid
  4. cap — a hat
  5. race — a contest
  6. content — the amount
  7. chest — of your body
  8. kick — in football
  9. net — for catching
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. object — an aim
  12. net — after costs
  13. firm — steady
  14. chest — of your body
  15. cap — of ice
  16. race — the arms race
  17. chest — a box
  18. object — a thing
  19. firm — decided
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. net — in sport
  22. content — happy
  23. object — to protest
  24. firm — a company

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