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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 120 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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  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. march — the month
  2. march — music
  3. march — the month
  4. track — a path
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. ball — a great time
  7. chest — of your body
  8. cap — a hat
  9. chest — of your body
  10. cap — a lid
  11. cap — of ice
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. ball — a dance
  14. rush — hurry
  15. race — humankind
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. chest — a box
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. race — a contest
  20. track — a song
  21. track — to keep track
  22. rule — government
  23. rule — a law
  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