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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: clip · rash · race · stick · march · season · press · degree

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  22. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. march — the month
  3. race — the arms race
  4. clip — to cut
  5. march — the month
  6. race — humankind
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. rash — hasty
  9. march — music
  10. rash — a series
  11. press — to push
  12. press — a publisher
  13. press — newspapers
  14. season — of the year
  15. season — in sport
  16. degree — an amount
  17. degree — from a university
  18. degree — temperature
  19. clip — a video
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. stick — to attach or keep to
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. race — a contest

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