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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: swing · rule · rush · race · game · cell · stock · wound

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. game — a match
  3. wound — an injury
  4. rush — hurry
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. rule — a law
  7. race — the arms race
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. wound — an injury
  11. swing — to play on
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. cell — in biology
  14. rule — government
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. swing — music
  17. race — humankind
  18. race — a contest
  19. game — wild animals
  20. stock — shares
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. stock — goods
  23. swing — in golf
  24. cell — a phone

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