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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: straw · stock · net · rush · cold · race · nail · lie

  1. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  4. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. lie — to recline
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. net — in sport
  8. cold — an illness
  9. net — for catching
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. race — humankind
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. net — after costs
  16. rush — hurry
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. stock — goods
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. race — a contest
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. cold — not warm
  24. race — the arms race

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