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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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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: race · mine · pass · rash · cell · dip · march · branch

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. rash — a series
  3. pass — to succeed
  4. march — the month
  5. race — humankind
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. cell — a phone
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. cell — in biology
  10. pass — a permit
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. branch — a division
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. pass — to spend time
  18. march — the month
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. race — a contest
  21. rash — hasty
  22. dip — to sink
  23. race — the arms race
  24. march — music

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