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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. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — a practice
  2. file — a document
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. chest — of your body
  5. race — the arms race
  6. chest — of your body
  7. race — humankind
  8. drill — army training
  9. track — a path
  10. jam — a tight spot
  11. race — a contest
  12. track — a song
  13. march — the month
  14. march — music
  15. capital — money
  16. capital — a city
  17. file — a tool
  18. file — a line of people
  19. track — to keep track
  20. chest — a box
  21. jam — to spread on bread
  22. drill — the tool
  23. march — the month
  24. jam — in traffic

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