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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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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: plane · rest · last · chest · race · rush · pitcher · cell

  1. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  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. cell — in a prison
  2. cell — a phone
  3. last — final
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. last — to go on
  6. race — the arms race
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. race — humankind
  9. chest — of your body
  10. chest — a box
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. rest — what's left
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. rush — hurry
  15. rest — what's left
  16. plane — a tool
  17. cell — in biology
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. last — finally
  20. plane — in geometry
  21. chest — of your body
  22. rest — a break
  23. pitcher — a jug
  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