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

  1. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  2. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a list
  2. rock — to move gently
  3. march — the month
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. file — a line of people
  6. race — a contest
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. roll — a cake
  9. racket — a loud noise
  10. march — the month
  11. bass — low music
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. rock — a stone
  14. file — a tool
  15. march — music
  16. race — the arms race
  17. bass — the fish
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. race — humankind
  20. file — a document
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. wound — an injury
  23. rock — music
  24. wound — an injury

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