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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: content · chair · race · leaves · march · toast

  1. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  2. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  9. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  10. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  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. toast — the most admired
  2. leaves — to go away
  3. chair — a leader
  4. race — a contest
  5. race — humankind
  6. march — the month
  7. march — the month
  8. leaves — of a tree
  9. toast — a drink to someone
  10. leaves — lets stay
  11. content — the amount
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. toast — bread
  14. content — happy
  15. race — the arms race
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. content — videos and posts
  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