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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: march · lean · racket · mine · file · race · mouse · spring

  1. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  11. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. file — a document
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. file — a tool
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. march — the month
  8. march — music
  9. file — a line of people
  10. racket — a loud noise
  11. mouse — for a computer
  12. spring — the season
  13. spring — of water
  14. lean — thin
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. march — the month
  17. lean — to bend
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. spring — a coil
  21. race — the arms race
  22. mine — for digging
  23. race — humankind
  24. race — a contest

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