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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: chair · arm · spring · march · toast · race · ball · field

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  14. My father caught me by the ________________.
  15. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. ball — a dance
  3. spring — of water
  4. race — humankind
  5. ball — a great time
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. toast — bread
  8. race — a contest
  9. spring — a coil
  10. field — for sport
  11. field — a subject
  12. march — the month
  13. toast — a drink to someone
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. march — music
  17. field — farmland
  18. race — the arms race
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. toast — the most admired
  22. march — the month
  23. spring — the season
  24. ball — a round shape

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