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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: mine · bowl · track · race · wound · march · squash · fork

  1. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. march — music
  3. race — humankind
  4. race — a contest
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. march — the month
  7. wound — an injury
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. track — a song
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. squash — the sport
  12. fork — in a road
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. wound — an injury
  15. track — a path
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. mine — for digging
  18. squash — to crush
  19. track — to keep track
  20. bowl — a dish
  21. race — the arms race
  22. march — the month
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. bowl — a football final

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