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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: trunk · race · land · net · chair · hand · firm · roll

  1. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. We're on a ________________ here.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  19. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. roll — on a roll
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. race — the arms race
  5. race — humankind
  6. net — in sport
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. land — a country
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. hand — in cards
  11. land — to come down
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. net — after costs
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. firm — decided
  16. race — a contest
  17. hand — help
  18. roll — a list
  19. firm — steady
  20. land — ground
  21. net — for catching
  22. firm — a company
  23. chair — a leader
  24. chair — to sit on

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