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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: straw · wind · march · staff · race · scale

  1. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. scale — in music
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. staff — a stick
  6. march — the month
  7. wind — moving air
  8. scale — size or range
  9. march — music
  10. race — humankind
  11. race — the arms race
  12. staff — employees
  13. wind — moving air
  14. march — the month
  15. staff — employees
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. straw — dry grass

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