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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. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  20. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  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. race — humankind
  2. march — music
  3. sharp — clever
  4. drill — the tool
  5. race — the arms race
  6. jam — to spread on bread
  7. file — a document
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. current — electric
  10. race — a contest
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. file — a line of people
  13. file — a tool
  14. field — for sport
  15. current — happening now
  16. march — the month
  17. march — the month
  18. drill — army training
  19. current — of water
  20. jam — a tight spot
  21. drill — a practice
  22. field — a subject
  23. field — farmland
  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