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

Word bank: mate · race · band · march · drill · vault

  1. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  14. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. march — the month
  3. mate — a partner
  4. race — humankind
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. drill — the tool
  7. drill — a practice
  8. mate — to breed
  9. drill — army training
  10. march — the month
  11. race — the arms race
  12. race — a contest
  13. vault — an arched ceiling
  14. vault — a safe
  15. band — a music group
  16. march — music
  17. band — a ring
  18. vault — in gymnastics

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