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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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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: march · stick · chest · hand · rash · mine · race · mouse

  1. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  14. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  15. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  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. race — a contest
  2. mine — for digging
  3. rash — hasty
  4. march — the month
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. hand — in cards
  7. race — humankind
  8. chest — of your body
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. mouse — for a computer
  11. chest — of your body
  12. race — the arms race
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. stick — to attach or keep to
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. march — music
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. hand — help
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. chest — a box
  23. rash — a series
  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