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

Word bank: wind · stand · present · march · race · content

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. I can't ________________ this cold.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. march — the month
  3. content — the amount
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. stand — to bear
  6. present — a gift
  7. march — music
  8. race — humankind
  9. content — happy
  10. stand — for spectators
  11. wind — moving air
  12. race — the arms race
  13. present — the time now
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. present — there
  16. wind — moving air
  17. race — a contest
  18. stand — on your feet

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