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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: wound · race · rush · stand · mate · chair · fork · bat

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. I can't ________________ this cold.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. stand — on your feet
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. mate — to breed
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. mate — a partner
  9. wound — an injury
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. stand — for spectators
  12. bat — the animal
  13. mate — a friend
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. race — humankind
  16. race — a contest
  17. race — the arms race
  18. rush — hurry
  19. fork — in a road
  20. chair — a leader
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. stand — to bear

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