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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: roll · race · march · clip · wave · cabinet · cold · date

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. We're on a ________________ here.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. What do you think of the new ________________?
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. roll — on a roll
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. roll — a cake
  5. cold — an illness
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. march — music
  8. roll — a list
  9. clip — a video
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. cabinet — a cupboard
  12. race — a contest
  13. date — the fruit
  14. clip — for paper
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. march — the month
  17. clip — to cut
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. race — humankind
  20. wave — of the sea
  21. cold — not warm
  22. wave — a sudden rise
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. race — the arms race

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