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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. mouse — for a computer
  3. march — the month
  4. race — a contest
  5. row — a line
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. last — final
  8. march — the month
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. last — to go on
  11. race — humankind
  12. land — ground
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. march — music
  15. plane — a tool
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. land — to come down
  18. race — the arms race
  19. land — a country
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. rock — a stone
  22. row — to paddle
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. last — finally

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