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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: march · rock · cell · race · swing · wound · object · spring

  1. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  21. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  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. rock — music
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. spring — of water
  4. spring — a coil
  5. march — the month
  6. object — an aim
  7. march — the month
  8. race — humankind
  9. race — a contest
  10. wound — an injury
  11. rock — a stone
  12. swing — music
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. swing — to play on
  15. wound — an injury
  16. cell — in biology
  17. swing — in golf
  18. race — the arms race
  19. object — a thing
  20. object — to protest
  21. rock — to move gently
  22. spring — the season
  23. cell — a phone
  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