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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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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: face · race · bay · roll · fan · march · clip · land

  1. My mare is ________________ in color.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a horse colour
  2. face — to point toward
  3. roll — a cake
  4. march — the month
  5. race — the arms race
  6. clip — to cut
  7. face — to confront
  8. land — to come down
  9. march — the month
  10. face — part of the head
  11. land — ground
  12. land — a country
  13. march — music
  14. race — a contest
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. bay — to keep at bay
  17. clip — a video
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. clip — for paper
  21. race — humankind
  22. bay — a part of the sea
  23. roll — a list
  24. fan — a supporter

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