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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: land · fine · scale · snap · race · march · charge · chest

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. The tickets are free of ________________.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  7. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. charge — a price
  4. snap — to click
  5. march — music
  6. charge — electricity
  7. fine — a penalty
  8. race — a contest
  9. march — the month
  10. chest — of your body
  11. fine — all right
  12. chest — a box
  13. land — to come down
  14. chest — of your body
  15. scale — size or range
  16. land — ground
  17. scale — in music
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. race — the arms race
  21. charge — in control
  22. race — humankind
  23. fine — high quality
  24. land — a country

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