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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: saw · race · march · cold · swing · rest

  1. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — past of 'see'
  2. saw — the tool
  3. march — the month
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. saw — the tool
  6. race — a contest
  7. rest — a break
  8. rest — what's left
  9. swing — music
  10. race — the arms race
  11. swing — in golf
  12. cold — not warm
  13. swing — to play on
  14. race — humankind
  15. march — the month
  16. rest — what's left
  17. cold — an illness
  18. march — music

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