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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: net · drill · game · rest · chest · race · snap · saw

  1. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. game — wild animals
  3. race — a contest
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. chest — of your body
  6. rest — what's left
  7. race — humankind
  8. drill — army training
  9. saw — the tool
  10. net — in sport
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. game — a match
  13. snap — to click
  14. chest — of your body
  15. net — for catching
  16. rest — what's left
  17. chest — a box
  18. drill — a practice
  19. saw — the tool
  20. net — after costs
  21. race — the arms race
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. drill — the tool
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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