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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: wind · land · march · race · drill · chest · mark · current

  1. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  18. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. drill — the tool
  3. mark — a grade
  4. land — a country
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. march — the month
  8. march — music
  9. current — happening now
  10. land — to come down
  11. current — electric
  12. wind — moving air
  13. race — a contest
  14. land — ground
  15. race — humankind
  16. drill — army training
  17. current — of water
  18. mark — a trace
  19. chest — of your body
  20. march — the month
  21. drill — a practice
  22. wind — moving air
  23. race — the arms race
  24. chest — of your body

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