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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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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 · mine · drill · kick · object · craft · march · cold

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. object — a thing
  3. drill — army training
  4. kick — in football
  5. craft — a handicraft
  6. drill — the tool
  7. object — to protest
  8. drill — a practice
  9. race — a contest
  10. craft — a skill
  11. race — humankind
  12. object — an aim
  13. cold — not warm
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. march — the month
  19. craft — boats
  20. mine — for digging
  21. march — the month
  22. march — music
  23. cold — an illness
  24. race — the arms race

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