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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: season · jam · race · pitch · march · stock · cell · object

  1. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  8. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  23. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — a tight spot
  2. season — of the year
  3. march — the month
  4. race — the arms race
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. cell — a phone
  7. object — an aim
  8. object — to protest
  9. stock — shares
  10. stock — goods
  11. march — music
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. race — a contest
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. cell — in biology
  17. jam — in traffic
  18. march — the month
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. season — in sport
  21. race — humankind
  22. jam — to spread on bread
  23. object — a thing
  24. pitch — completely

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