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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: face · chair · rash · net · pass · game · race · drill

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. net — after costs
  3. game — a match
  4. net — in sport
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. pass — to succeed
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. drill — army training
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. face — to confront
  11. race — humankind
  12. drill — the tool
  13. rash — a series
  14. net — for catching
  15. face — part of the head
  16. race — a contest
  17. rash — hasty
  18. race — the arms race
  19. face — to point toward
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. game — wild animals
  22. pass — a permit
  23. drill — a practice
  24. pass — to spend time

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