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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: race · cell · hand · cap · land · fork · net · pop

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. race — a contest
  3. cell — a phone
  4. pop — to visit
  5. land — a country
  6. net — in sport
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. cap — a hat
  10. net — for catching
  11. land — to come down
  12. cap — of ice
  13. hand — help
  14. race — humankind
  15. pop — soda
  16. land — ground
  17. pop — music
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. fork — in a road
  20. cell — in biology
  21. race — the arms race
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. hand — in cards
  24. cap — a lid

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