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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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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: land · rush · squash · race · swing · current · march · prune

  1. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. race — a contest
  3. march — music
  4. rush — hurry
  5. land — to come down
  6. prune — to trim
  7. race — the arms race
  8. current — of water
  9. squash — the sport
  10. swing — to play on
  11. swing — in golf
  12. squash — to crush
  13. current — electric
  14. swing — music
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. prune — to trim
  17. land — a country
  18. current — happening now
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. march — the month
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. race — humankind
  23. land — ground
  24. march — the month

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