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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 116 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: race · press · march · rash · kid · squash

  1. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. press — a publisher
  4. march — music
  5. squash — to crush
  6. race — the arms race
  7. kid — child
  8. press — newspapers
  9. march — the month
  10. squash — the sport
  11. race — a contest
  12. march — the month
  13. rash — a series
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. kid — to tease
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. rash — hasty
  18. race — humankind

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