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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: race · jam · pit · net · drill · rush · straw · cold

  1. That must've been a ________________.
  2. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Would you like some apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. rush — a thrill
  2. jam — a tight spot
  3. net — in sport
  4. race — a contest
  5. net — for catching
  6. jam — in traffic
  7. drill — a practice
  8. race — humankind
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. rush — hurry
  12. net — after costs
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. race — the arms race
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. pit — in a race
  17. drill — army training
  18. pit — a hole
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. cold — not warm
  21. drill — the tool
  22. cold — an illness
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. jam — to spread on bread

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