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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: march · chest · track · coach · land · roll · press · current

  1. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  2. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  5. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  21. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. We're on a ________________ here.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. current — electric
  2. current — happening now
  3. press — a publisher
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. roll — a cake
  6. march — the month
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. march — music
  9. land — to come down
  10. track — a song
  11. track — a path
  12. press — to push
  13. chest — of your body
  14. track — to keep track
  15. chest — a box
  16. press — newspapers
  17. chest — of your body
  18. land — a country
  19. land — ground
  20. current — of water
  21. roll — a list
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. roll — on a roll
  24. march — the month

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