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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 · deal · drill · band · chest · press · race · date

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. race — the arms race
  3. press — to push
  4. drill — the tool
  5. band — a ring
  6. race — humankind
  7. drill — army training
  8. date — the fruit
  9. band — a music group
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. chest — of your body
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. chest — of your body
  16. march — music
  17. press — a publisher
  18. deal — to handle
  19. march — the month
  20. press — newspapers
  21. chest — a box
  22. drill — a practice
  23. race — a contest
  24. deal — an agreement

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