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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 116 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: game · trunk · mine · march · bear · chair · content · race

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  11. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. content — the amount
  3. game — a match
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. march — the month
  7. race — a contest
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. march — music
  10. bear — the animal
  11. bear — to put up with
  12. race — humankind
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. chair — a leader
  15. bear — the animal
  16. game — wild animals
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. race — the arms race
  20. mine — for digging
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. content — happy
  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