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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: hand · object · tear · bound · current · race · content · net

  1. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. hand — help
  3. object — a thing
  4. net — for catching
  5. hand — in cards
  6. object — to protest
  7. net — after costs
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. bound — tied together
  10. race — a contest
  11. race — the arms race
  12. bound — certain
  13. content — the amount
  14. content — happy
  15. object — an aim
  16. race — humankind
  17. net — in sport
  18. bound — obliged
  19. current — of water
  20. tear — from crying
  21. current — happening now
  22. tear — to rip
  23. current — electric
  24. tear — from crying

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