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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 · race · face · nail · deal · chest · row · cold

  1. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. march — music
  3. chest — of your body
  4. race — humankind
  5. chest — a box
  6. deal — an agreement
  7. march — the month
  8. cold — not warm
  9. row — to paddle
  10. deal — a big deal
  11. cold — an illness
  12. nail — on a finger
  13. face — to point toward
  14. chest — of your body
  15. race — the arms race
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. face — to confront
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. race — a contest
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. deal — to handle
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. march — the month
  24. row — a line

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