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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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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: stick · game · march · trunk · file · row · rest · race

  1. That was a fun ________________.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. row — a line
  3. file — a document
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. row — to paddle
  8. march — the month
  9. rest — a break
  10. game — wild animals
  11. race — a contest
  12. file — a tool
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. march — music
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. race — the arms race
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. race — humankind
  20. rest — what's left
  21. rest — what's left
  22. stick — to attach or keep to
  23. march — the month
  24. file — a line of people

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