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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: chair · last · content · wake · race · fine · march · cabinet

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  5. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. What do you think of the new ________________?
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. content — happy
  3. march — music
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. cabinet — a cupboard
  6. race — the arms race
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. race — a contest
  12. fine — all right
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. fine — high quality
  15. last — final
  16. chair — a leader
  17. march — the month
  18. content — the amount
  19. race — humankind
  20. last — finally
  21. march — the month
  22. wake — a trail
  23. fine — a penalty
  24. last — to go on

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